• Crashgate

Briatore rules out return to F1

Flavio Briatore has confirmed earlier comments that he will never return to Formula One despite having his indefinite ban from motorsport overturned by a Paris court in January. He was punished by the FIA in September after allegations that he helped to fix the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

"I exclude it 100%," he said when asked if he would be interested in buying a team. "I still have affection for F1 even if it would have been better to have left at the end of 2006 when [Fernando] Alonso won his second title."

Last month he quit as chairman of English football team Queen's Park Rangers after supporters turned on him, although he remains a shareholder. "I did it so I didn't create embarrassment for the Football Association given the Singapore story," he said, adding he was not interested in returning to football either.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.