Even his inspired European grand prix win did not improve Fernando Alonso’s tetchy relationship with his McLaren bosses, according to reports.
Proving that the story is not influenced by national allegiances, both the British newspaper The Times and its Spanish colleagues at ‘Diario As’ agree this week that all is not well behind closed doors at Woking.
“The double world champion has a terrible relationship with the head of McLaren, Ron Dennis” a reporter for ‘As’ revealed after the Nurburgring race.
Television viewers got a glimpse of the tension on Sunday, when in parc ferme Spaniard Alonso, 25, turned away from the waiting Dennis after alighting from his winning car at the Nurburgring.
The ‘As’ reporter then described their eventual greeting as “cold”, particularly in comparison with the jubilant scenes that used to take place between Alonso and his Renault boss Flavio Briatore.
The Times, meanwhile, concurs that Alonso is “far from happy” at McLaren, despite winning three of the ten races so far in 2007.
“It’s worse,” an insider told the newspaper when asked to compare the current situation with the final tense months at Renault before Alonso defected to Dennis’ team.
The Times claims that Alonso did not like the way Dennis handled the Monaco aftermath, when his win was overshadowed by suggestions that Lewis Hamilton had been prevented from winning.
Also controversial has been the allocation of race strategies between Alonso and Hamilton, with the Spanish press adamant that the British rookie usually receives the favourable deal.
