Fernando Alonso expressed frustration with his McLaren chiefs after arriving at Magny Cours as rumblings about a ‘civil war’ within the team continue to groan.
The reigning world champion, who has finished the last two races behind his rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton, rebuked managing director Martin Whitmarsh for telling reporters in Indianapolis that his pitwall swerve during the US grand prix was borne out of frustration.
Repeating his insistence that he was merely cooling his car and cleaning his overalls, Spaniard Alonso said: “That was very difficult to understand — why he said that.”
The Spanish newspaper Diario As, meanwhile, quoted him as elaborating: “That is the worst thing of all. It is a very unfortunate commentary by one of my own bosses.”
The 25-year-old also flatly denied team principal and chairman Ron Dennis’ recent claim that Alonso and Hamilton have agreed to not privately talk about each other to the press.
“It is not true. It is not true,” Alonso insisted on the scene of the French GP, adding that he did not know why Dennis and Hamilton have openly repeated the claim.
