Bernie Ecclestone getting the silent treatment from riled Flavio Briatore

Bernie Ecclestone today revealed his friendship with Flavio Briatore has suffered in the wake of Crashgate, claiming the Italian isn't even talking to him.

Briatore was handed a lifetime ban from all FIA-sanctioned events over his role in the conspiracy which resulted in Nelson Piquet Jnr deliberately crashing his Renault in last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

F1 supremo Ecclestone was part of the 26man World Motor Sport Council which sat in judgment on the former Renault team boss in Paris on Monday but feels the punishment was too severe. The two men are co-owners of Queens Park Rangers but Ecclestone said: "He's not talking to me. He thinks I should have defended him, which I couldn't."

Ecclestone, however, feels he could have had more influence when it came to the severity of the sanction.

"There were three people who knew what was going on and that is it," he said. "No one else was involved. Those people have been dealt with, in my view quite harshly in regards to Flavio. I don't think it was necessary, but I was on the commission so I am probably just as guilty as anyone else. On reflection it was definitely too much."

Ecclestone does, however, believe Briatore should have admitted his guilt, adding: "He could have handled it in a completely different way, and they would have said 'You were a naughty boy' and that would have been the end of it."