F1’s political intrigue turns to humor

(GMM) Memorable quotes have flown thick and fast as political intrigue swills in the Shanghai paddock.

After likening Jenson Button's pace to that of a concrete post, Flavio Briatore then said a Chinese taxi driver would do a better job than Ross Brawn of heading FOTA's technical committee.

Asked if he had a rejoinder to the Renault boss, Brawn said: "I think change the medication!"

Sir Frank Williams, meanwhile, amusingly responded to Briatore's anger about the diffuser affair.

"Flavio would not recognize a diffuser even it is were stuffed with money," he quipped.

A correspondent London's Times newspaper, meanwhile, recalled Bernie Ecclestone's musings about the F1 teams' alliance FOTA on the same flight from the UK to Shanghai.

Reporter Martin Johnson said: "Bernie claimed he didn't read the FOTA association letters because his dog always ate them before he could get them in the shredder."