Heat off Piquet after strong Bahrain drive

(GMM) With one sentence from the mouth of Flavio Briatore, the intense heat fell off the shoulders of Nelson Piquet.

In the approach to the weekend's Bahrain grand prix, rumors hinted that the Renault boss had lost patience with Piquet, who has been outqualified by teammate Fernando Alonso at all 22 grands prix of his career.

Briatore did little to quell the speculation in Bahrain, advising reporters to "see what happens" in the dry conditions of the fourth round of 2009.

"What can I say," he added. "The situation is like everybody sees, difficult for him and in a moment like this you don't kill anybody. This is the first race with the normal (weather) situation and let's see.

"Sunday or Monday maybe we have a different idea, I hope a better idea, of what is going on," said Briatore.

On Sunday, Piquet rose from 15th on the grid to finish tenth versus Alonso's eighth. "Nelson had an excellent race, driving aggressively and consistently," Briatore said afterwards.

Meanwhile, Rubens Barrichello scotched speculation that, at the end of an initial four-race contract for Brawn, he may now be replaced by another driver, perhaps Bruno Senna.

"I promise you, you're going to see me for the whole year!" said the Brazilian veteran, blaming the internet for the rumors.