Motor racing-Kovalainen debut was 'rubbish', says Briatore

By Alan Baldwin

MELBOURNE, March 18 (Reuters) - Heikki Kovalainen's Formula One debut with champions Renault was panned by team boss Flavio Briatore after the Finn had an Australian Grand Prix to forget.

"Heikki's performance? I think everybody was watching on TV. I don't need to protect anybody. It was rubbish," the Italian told Reuters after Sunday's season-opening race.

"What can I say? If I tell you it was good, I am a complete idiot.

"It was no good. When you start like that, you don't have any problem in getting better. You have plenty of space to improve," added Briatore.

Kovalainen, stepping into the shoes of departed double world champion Fernando Alonso at the team that has won the championship for the past two seasons, finished 10th after starting 13th.

He made numerous mistakes, running wide and spinning when a points finish looked likely for a highly rated driver who had been expected to give Renault regular Giancarlo Fisichella a run for his money.

"It was not Heikki today, it was not him," Briatore said. "We know Heikki and he was testing with us and always super-quick. Today I don't know what happened.

"We know the guy is good. Because his performance was so bad, it was not him. Maybe it was his brother. We will try to get the real Heikki for the next race."