F1: Grand Prix News Briefs (Update 5)

Formula 1

F1: Grand Prix News Briefs (Update 5)

Flavio Briatore has joined Luca di Montezemolo in criticizing the way Michael Schumacher ended his Formula One career...

SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted November 06, 2012 GMM Newswire

Flavio Briatore is a former F1 team boss. (Photo: Getty Images)

Briatore Joins Montezemolo In Schumacher Criticism: Flavio Briatore has joined Luca di Montezemolo in criticizing the way Michael Schumacher ended his Formula One career recently in Brazil. Despite winning five consecutive titles for Ferrari in his ultra-successful first career, Schumacher — who spent his final three years with Mercedes — openly let his friend Sebastian Vettel overtake during the Interlagos finale. Schumacher's fellow German Vettel was fighting for the title against Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who ultimately lost the battle by three points. "I was expecting a slightly different final race on the part of Michael Schumacher," Ferrari president Montezemolo admitted last weekend. Italian Briatore, who was team boss when Schumacher won his first two titles with Benetton in the mid-'90s, agrees with his fellow Italian Montezemolo. "The way he (Schumacher) behaved in Brazil was not good. His preference was that Red Bull beats Ferrari," said Briatore. "The only one who helped Ferrari was Webber," he added, referring to Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, who is in Briatore's management stable.

No London Grand Prix At Olympic Stadium: Plans to stage a Grand Prix in and around London's Olympic stadium have all but collapsed. Earlier this year, a company called Intelligent Transport Services launched a bid to take over the venue in the wake of the British capital's Games. But rival bids were also launched, including by the premier league football club West Ham United. And the AFP news agency says the club has been named "first bidder," which is reportedly a "major step" toward West Ham becoming the permanent tenant of the stadium. "We had four good bids, as everybody knows," said London mayor Boris Johnson. "The bid that has been ranked top is West Ham United. I am very pleased about that," he added. "It will, if it goes through, mean a football legacy for the stadium but there is still a lot of negotiation to go on ... about the terms of the deal."

Vettel Frowns Upon Fans' Bruno Senna Abuse: Sebastian Vettel has distanced himself from a barrage of criticism directed at Bruno Senna after the recent 2012 championship finale in Brazil. It was contact with Brazilian Senna's Williams that spun Vettel around on the first lap at Interlagos, and caused significant bodywork and exhaust damage that almost cost the German his third consecutive drivers' title. Vettel said immediately after the race: "The grave of Ayrton Senna is here in Sao Paulo. Maybe someone has to go there and tell him what his nephew did today." The 25-year-old was smiling and clearly joking when he made the remarks, but — according to German media reports — that did not stop some of his fans from defacing Bruno Senna's social media pages with abuse. Vettel told Sport Bild: "I clearly distance myself from these so-called fans. In the end we are all part of a sport, and it can always happen that we get in each other's way." Meanwhile, he denied he lost any sleep over the recent yellow flag controversy, despite team boss Christian Horner admitting this week that it had been "an uncomfortable 48 hours." "I always knew that I'd done nothing wrong," Vettel said.

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