Alonso could have won 2019 title

Flavio Briatore realizes that today's F1 is 99% car and 1% driver

(GMM) "Five or six drivers" could have won the 2019 world championship at the wheel of Mercedes' car.

That is the view of Flavio Briatore, who thinks a driver whose career he has promoted for a long time, Fernando Alonso, would have been among them.

"Mercedes is an invincible battleship," the Italian told Autosprint magazine.

"At least five or six drivers, including Alonso, would have won the title with their 2019 car. But I take no credit from Hamilton, because you still have to beat the teammate at your side."

Briatore also commented on Ferrari's potentially explosive driver lineup of Charles Leclerc alongside Sebastian Vettel, who have been given equal billing for 2020.

Briatore said: "It's right that Leclerc and Vettel are on equal terms, but after five races Ferrari will have to decide who to bet on."

Finally, the 69-year-old former Renault boss admitted that, during his F1 career, he was twice approached for a potential switch to Ferrari.

"The first was between 1994 and 1995," Briatore claimed. "I spoke seriously with Umberto Agnelli, but I was too busy at Benetton, where he also had a stake in the team.

"More recently I talked to Luca di Montezemolo when he was president of Ferrari, but we couldn't reach an agreement," he added.