Briatore pushed for McLaren’s exclusion

Now we know why Renault's Flavio Briatore wants to attend the Ferrari appeal of the ruling on the 'spygate' case. Flavio Briatore told Autosport.com, "Last winter, I was saying how lucky McLaren are to be immediately that quick on Bridgestone tires. I'm a lucky guy, so it's OK for other people to be as well.

"We, on the other hand, we're in full crisis mode: Michelin's retirement turned out to be a disaster for Renault.

"It's evident that they had the data on the weight distribution by Ferrari, who used Bridgestone tires for almost ten years. That page in the famous stolen dossier would have been enough to save months of work and to find the solution immediately."

The 2007 championship is corrupted, and not just for us and Ferrari, but for everyone else. Here is a team that acquired an advantage illegally."

"I'm not a judge. Just read the regulations: for intellectual property theft the punishment is exclusion."

Asked why he will go to the appeal trial, the feisty Italian said, "Yes, obviously. In my opinion we are an injured party."