Fernando Alonso will not last long at the McLaren team.
That is the prediction of Antonio Lobato, who is described by the Spanish newspaper Marca as the ‘journalist who knows him best’.
Lobato is the director of sport for the Spanish broadcaster Telecinco, and he also presents the country’s coverage of formula one.
In a column for Marca, he said 25-year-old Alonso feels “suffocated” under Ron Dennis’ regime this year, after winning two titles for the more laid-back Renault team in 2005 and 2006.
“I don’t see him staying there for long,” Lobato wrote.
He claimed that McLaren “do not listen” to Alonso “because they think that there is nobody who can teach them anything.”
Alonso, meanwhile, reckons he sensed an improvement in the McLaren garage at Indianapolis last weekend, after complaining before the US grand prix that team members were “happier when Hamilton won”.
The reigning world champion told The Sun: “They are now being more careful with their manners.
“Now I’m more comfortable than before and full of confidence everything will go well from now on.”
In the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, he said he still feels like the favourite for the world championship, despite trailing his teammate Hamilton by 10 points.
“There are still 100 points left to win,” Alonso insisted, “and in many ways the championship for me begins now with the very important European races at Magny Cours, Silverstone and Nurburgring.”
