Heikki-to-Williams?
According to rumors that emerged at Indianapolis, Renault's Briatore is trying to broker a deal with Williams to offload the underperforming rookie Heikki Kovalainen — who, it must be said, performed strongly on F1's tour of North America.
It was claimed that Williams was seeking a multi-million dollar figure to pay-out Alex Wurz's contract, with Nelson Piquet Jr in the frame to slip into Kovalainen's newly vacated Renault race seat.
But Williams told the Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse: "This rumor annoys me particularly.
"It arose from the simple fact that Flavio Briatore very kindly gave me a lift on his private plane, and – like so often – a conspiracy theory was born.
"The whole thing then snowballs and I find myself having to explain whether or not I am going to kick Alex out."
Williams insisted that he cannot imagine "a single scenario" for which he might consider sacking Wurz in 2007, despite the fact that the Austrian has been conspicuously outperformed by his younger teammate Nico Rosberg.
"Alex is safe," he added, nonetheless admitting that all team bosses in the pitlane are on the lookout for the "next Hamilton".
But Williams, 65, praised Austrian Wurz for being a "superb team player" who is underrated.
"He is rock-solid and an unbelievably positive stimulus for every member of the team.
"He is very strong in the head and charming as well — not to mention fast," Williams said, adding that 33-year-old Wurz has only looked mediocre alongside Rosberg in 2007 because his young German teammate is "simply very, very good".
06/20/07 (GMM) Flavio Briatore has vehemently denied reports that Renault's Finnish Heikki Kovalainen could be offloaded to Williams in the coming weeks.
Paddock rumors at Indianapolis last weekend suggested that the French squad's team boss was so dissatisfied with Kovalainen's form this year that he wanted to replace him as soon as possible with test driver Nelson Piquet Jr.
"In formula one, too much is always spoken," Briatore said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper 'As'.
He insisted: "The truth is that I have never talked with Frank Williams about drivers or had dinner with him.
"We have made our decisions and we stick with them. With Heikki, we chose for the future."
Briatore said 25-year-old Kovalainen has shown clear signs of improvement in the past few races and partly blames himself for the Finn's rusty start to 2007.
"He drove a great race in Montreal. Obviously, he is working with the team to understand some of the errors he has made but we have to be careful, give him every support and try to improve our car."
Briatore said Lewis Hamilton's impressive start to his formula one career shows that a good car is crucial for any rookie.
"With the (2006) R26 Kova tested a champion car but at the beginning of this season we were initially just 15th.
"He has had a difficult car, whereas Hamilton's (McLaren) has been perfect.
"On the other hand Lewis raced in GP2 in 2006 and Kovalainen not at all. That could have been our error that we have paid for.
"I am never content if we do not win, but at the moment it is not possible because of the machine, not because of the drivers."
Briatore said: "The potential of Heikki and Giancarlo is quite good.
"Kovalainen has to prove it still and Fisichella has done a very good job for the car. We must work with them to improve — without pressure."