Flamboyant team manager extends contract through 2008 (ANSA) - Paris, September 6 - The Renault Formula 1 race team confirmed on Wednesday that Flavio Briatore would remain as managing director for another two years .

The flamboyant Italian said he was "delighted" to extend his contract with the French team, which he has run since it was acquired by the French carmaker from Benetton in 2000 .

Wednesday's announcement ended rumors that Briatore was considering retirement from Formula 1 .

The speculation came after the 56-year-old manager said earlier this month that "you need to be incredibly motivated in Formula 1. I have little to prove to myself now". In an interview posted on Renault's Formula 1 website, Briatore explained that "I wanted to sign for two years because had it been 12 months, we would have been going through the same questions about my future in six months' time. This way, we can concentrate on the job in hand: starting a new competitive cycle in 2007" .


Briatore orchestrated Renault's successful campaign to clinch both the constructors' championship and drivers' title, with Fernando Alonso, in 2005 .

The feat ended Ferrari's six-year winning streak and clipped Michael Schumacher's tally of consecutive title at five .

Renault is currently holding on to a slim four-point lead in this year's championship, with four races to go, while standings leader Alonso remains 12 points ahead of Schumacher .

Briatore entered Formula 1 through Benetton, where he had a successful and lucrative career running the clothing giant's operations in the United States .

Under his management, Benetton's Formula 1 team won the constructors' title in 1995, with Schumacher at the wheel. However, Briatore was fired by Benetton in 1997 after the team's fortunes turned and it lost Schumacher to Ferrari .

He returned to Formula 1 when Renault bought out Benetton, after supplying the team with its engines .

Aside from Briatore, Renault said it had extended the contract of the team's core technical-management structure and announced that Finland's Heikki Kovalainen would replace Alonso in the drivers' lineup alongside veteran Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy .

Alonso, who last year became the youngest Formula 1 champion-ever, at 24, will race next season for McLaren-Mercedes. The Spaniard's departure, Briatore observed, was "an opportunity more than a burden. We are not losing a driver who has won the world title; rather, we are starting a new era with a future champion" .

Kovalainen, 24, has been Renault's chief test driver this season .