Fernando Alonso has denied he was angry with how Ferrari’s tactics played out during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was heard sarcastically calling the team “geniuses” in a radio message which FOM chose to air, despite it being in Italian.
Ferrari had hoped to give Alonso a tow by running team-mate Felipe Massa close enough ahead to give him a slipstream, but he had to back off after joining behind Nico Rosberg.
“So we will have to let him by then. You’re really [pause] geniuses! Mamma mia guys!” Alonso shouted over his radio.
However after the session, he denied he was angry, saying the comments were misunderstood in the heat of the moment and he believes the tactics helped him out as he took fifth, one place behind Massa.
“It was perfect,” he said. “We planned to have [Massa] a little bit in front and he was helping me out on the straights. An extra tenth or something was thanks to him.”
He added: “The radio messages have been misunderstood, as is often the case when you don’t experience something first hand.”
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