In an intervention likely to raise eyebrows, Fernando Alonso has addressed his tumultuous first McLaren spell in Formula 1, in a season known for the infamous Spygate scandal.
Having won the 2006 championship, Alonso defected to rival McLaren for 2007, assuming the role of team leader alongside then F1 rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The relationship between the two drivers disintegrated rapidly during the season, with Alonso claiming favouritism towards Hamilton’s side of the garage midway through the year.
A series of track incidents, including Alonso being accused of preventing Hamilton from setting a lap time in Q3 in Hungary led to the Spaniard and McLaren divorcing after just one season.
His and the team’s year was marred further after confidential Ferrari information was found in McLaren’s possession, resulting in a $100million fine and championship disqualification for McLaren.
Alonso has now revealed he struggled to adapt to the McLaren MP4/22 after his stint at Renault, mirroring the current situation Hamilton faces at Ferrari, but said adapting to new cars was critical.
“Surely there were some [cars unsuited to me], but that’s an excuse that doesn’t work”, he said to Spanish outlet AS.
“You have to adapt because cars change and rules change.”
Alonso reveals detail of ‘Anti-Fernando car’
Detailing the challenges he faced, Alonso said tyres played the biggest part in his struggles, with the Bridgestone rubber causing him issues in 2007, stating the car was against him.
“Without going any further, as soon as the second World Championship ended, I had an ‘anti-Fernando’ car in 2007,” he remarked.
“The tyres were Bridgestone, which were the same ones used in GP2 at the time, so all the drivers who moved up from GP2 [like Hamilton] suddenly had very good performance.”
The Spaniard hinted that although Pirelli’s return to the sport caused him issues, it was down to him to work around the problems and find more speed.
“Now there’s a lot of talk about the return of Pirelli tyres [in 2011], but even then there was a very different way of warming them up and it was completely unknown territory.
“I’ve suffered for a few years, but that’s the way it is.”
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