Alonso - Briatore ’not Mourinho’ as Ferrari rumours swirl

Fernando Alonso would like to see Flavio Briatore back in formula one, but he denies his arrival at Ferrari "would be like Mou in Madrid".

The ’Mou’ reference is to Jose Mourinho, the highly respected Portuguese football coach who arrived at Real Madrid last year and is regarded as one of the best managers in history.

In Turkey last weekend, rumours that Briatore - currently banned from formula one for the ’crashgate’ scandal - could be heading to Ferrari were mentioned by Sky Italia.

"I would like Flavio to return, we miss him," Alonso told Spanish broadcaster TV3. "He is an unique character but it wouldn’t be like Mou in Madrid", he added, possibly referring to Mourinho’s latest controversies.

Instead, Alonso said Ferrari has important questions to ask itself regarding its overall approach to designing its single seaters.

"I think Ferrari has to try to change a little bit the way we work, risking more and being more innovative," he said. "From now on we have to start inventing."

The Spaniard insists the 2011 season is still long but acknowledged the challenge of chasing down Red Bull’s runaway Sebastian Vettel.

"We will not give up so soon but we are aware of the difficulty of having this championship," said the 29-year-old.

Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa also said it will take some more time before the 150 Italia car is a winner.

"Probably in Barcelona we will take another step forward," he told Diario Sport, "but we will have to wait for some more races to fight for victory."