Fernando Alonso has never hidden the fact that his 2007 season with McLaren was a real battleground. Nearly twenty years later, a former key member of the team reveals an episode that illustrates just how far the Spaniard was willing to go to try and regain the upper hand over Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso, the perfect teammate?
According to Mark Slade, former racing engineer ofAlonso, the two-time world champion reportedly asked McLaren to deprive his young teammate of access to the technical data of his car. A request that was reportedly immediately rejected by the team.
"Fernando requested that Lewis no longer have access to his data around the middle of the season.", tells Mark Slade.
The idea behind this request was simple: Alonso estimated that Hamilton, then a beginner in Formula 1He was making progress by exploiting information from both cars. By limiting this access, the Spaniard thought he could regain a sporting advantage.
McLaren has closed the door
The management of McLaren However, they never considered such a measure. For the British team, sharing data between the two garages was essential to improving the car's overall performance, regardless of the rivalry between its drivers.
"The more information we have, the faster we can make both cars." ", Explain Slade summarizing the philosophy of McLaren.
The team's refusal reportedly caused deep upset. Alonso.
"He was really very unhappy that he didn't get what he wanted.", the former engineer continued.
A demand born from a deep sense of injustice
However, Slade invites us to put this controversy into context. According to him, this request was not just an attempt to destabilize Hamilton but also the consequence of a climate that has become unbearable within McLaren.
"He felt he was being treated unfairly, and this request was his way of trying to redress the balance.", he explains.
The 2007 season remains one of the most tense in recent history of the Formula 1The rivalry between Alonso et Hamilton had quickly gone beyond the purely sporting realm, to the point of causing a lasting rift within McLarenThe Spaniard will ultimately leave the team after just one season, despite an initial three-year contract.
Even today, these revelations show how this cohabitation had reached a level of distrust rarely seen in Formula 1.
@f1 the quotes from mclaren's 2007 launch aged… interestingly 😅 f1 formula1 sports racing lewishamilton fernandoalonso mclaren
