No! Not again! Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is rumored to be entertaining thoughts about leaving McLaren Mercedes - his new home. It can be recalled that the Spaniard Formula One driver left Renault in 2006.
Unhappy?
The rumor, which has spread like wildfire, stemmed from the watcher’s opinion that Alonso is still unhappy at McLaren. The said notion was heightened by the alleged espionage scandal.
According to reports, even his inspired European grand prix win did not improve Alonso’s tetchy relationship with his McLaren bosses. Proving that the story is not influenced by national allegiances, both the British newspaper The Times and its Spanish colleagues at ‘Diario As’ agreed to say this week that all is not well behind closed doors at Woking, reported Duemotori.
"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 Alonso turned away from the waiting Dennis after alighting from his winning car at the Nurburgring. The ‘As’ reporter described the greeting as "cold", particularly in comparison with the euphoric 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 3 of the 10 races so far in 2007. "It’s worse," an insider told The Times.
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 favorable deal.
On Favoritism
‘The turning point, after a positive start, came in Monte Carlo at the end of May, when Alonso and his supporters were dismayed to see his drive to victory overshadowed by the row over whether or not Hamilton had been stopped from winning the race. ‘The impression is that the Spaniard has failed to establish anything more than a working relationship with Dennis, the McLaren team principal,’ The Times reported.
“And then, of course, there is the situation of team leader or number one driver, which Alonso and his advisors are believed to have thought the double World Champion would have been given,” Planet F-1 reported. “There are suggestions that the deal for Alonso’s move from Renault - as his advisers understood it when it was agreed in December 2005 - has not been honored. The Spaniard’s people might have been given the impression that Alonso would have an unchallenged position as team leader.” That, though, hasn’t happened.