Alonso 'may quit before end of season'

Ron Dennis and the McLaren team have come under further pressure with reports in the Spanish media that world champion Fernando Alonso is so fed up with life in the team that he is considering quitting before the seasons end

"We are now able to say that Alonso doesn't want to spend a minute longer at McLaren," claimed the Spanish sports daily AS. "Not only does he want to race for someone else in 2008, the situation is so bad that he is considering ending the current championship with another team.

"When a driver loses confidence in his team there is no way back. This is what has happened with Alonso, who even suspects that he's being sabotaged within the team."

The paper cites the incidents allegedly referred to by Alonso: incorrect tyre pressures, incorrect aerodynamic settings, and problems with the brakes. Furthermore, the paper claims that all of these problems only arose at the races in which Alonso had outqualified team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Some sections of the British media have defended Hamilton's decision to stay ahead of Alonso against team instructions during qualifying for the Hungarian GP in Budapest on Saturday, which triggered Alonso's decision to deliberately delay Hamilton during their final pit stop, costing the Englishman his chance of a final qualifying lap. This in turn led to the stewards docking the Spaniard five grid places and denying the team any constructors' championship points for the race.

In Spain, however, the media have slated Hamilton and spoken of his " mask" slipping and claiming that, while he pretends to be humble and polite, he is far from that. In other words, the same

accusations that have been levelled at Alonso elsewhere.

While this can be expected, there is a gathering feeling in F1 circles that Alonso's relationship with McLaren has run its course, and he is known to have been dissatisfied by his treatment there long before the incidents of last weekend. He came into the team expecting the full treatment as number one, as the reigning world champion, and has made no secret of his anger that rookie Hamilton has been treated in the same manner.

There were suggestions in Hungary that Alonso will either seek a berth back at Renault, or else at BMW Sauber, or, if McLaren chief Dennis holds him to his 2008 contract, that he will simply sit out the year.

Dennis acknowledged the speculation when he said: "There is an inevitability that these things are rumoured and discussed. We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future. We will respect our part of the bargain – we hope that the drivers respect theirs, because that's what a contract is about. We will continue to function as a grand prix team with specific values and if anybody does not want to be part of those values ultimately they will have a choice. But we will not deviate away from our values."

At the very heart of the problem lies the fact that Dennis is bending over backwards trying to appease two very competitive young men. But both drivers are said to be more than irked by the level of control that Dennis likes to exercise.

Just to complicate the issue even further, reports in Italy claimed yesterday that Ferrari have expressed interest in trying to sign Hamilton for 2008. The influential newspaper Tuttosport suggests that current Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have failed to convince the management despite winning five races between them this season, and that Hamilton is seen as the team's future. Tuttosport claims Ferrari have made an offer worth $35m (£17m) a year. This is an awful lot more than Hamilton is currently earning.

The Hamilton, McLaren and Ferrari camps were unavailable for comment yesterday, but this suggestion could be just another step in what is perceived to be a carefully orchestrated campaign by Ferrari to destabilise their rival. However, the relationship between the Hamiltons and McLaren is not as rosy as it once was and it is not impossible that father and son might be prepared to consider a change of scene if things do not pick up, notwithstanding Hamilton's win on Sunday, his third of the season.

The Motor Sports Association in Britain yesterday made an official appeal on McLaren's behalf against the stewards' decision not to let them score points in Hungary, while the FIA revealed that Ferrari's appeal against the World Motor Sport Council's decision in July not to penalise McLaren for being in possession of their intellectual property will be heard in Paris on 13 September.