2007 Renault a lemon?

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella doubts that he'll stand on the Formula 1 podium this year despite starting the season with high hopes at a team that won both championships in 2006 and 2005.

Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper quoted him as saying: "This Renault was born bad".

"Of course you can never rule anything out in F1, even winning with this car. But I don't think I'll be back on the podium in 2007."

Fisichella said: "I don't see any chance of winning a race. The aerodynamics are wrong. It's better to start straight away on the 2008 car than wasting time fixing a car born bad."

He said the 2007 car looked good in the wind tunnel pre-season but the reality on the circuit was different.

"Nobody expected to start the season like this," he said. "We even thought about bringing back the 2006 car but with these tires we wouldn't have achieved anything."