Alonso questions Renault support
Fernando Alonso has criticised members of his Renault team for not backing his title defence wholeheartedly.
The Spaniard is due to leave for McLaren at the end of the year and he believes there are some in the team who would rather he did not take the coveted number one with him.
Alonso lost his championship lead for the first time this season after trailing in behind race winner and title rival Michael Schumacher in a Chinese Grand Prix that Renault should have won.
“The whole team is gutted, apart from the handful of people who don’t want me to take the number one to McLaren,” Alonso told Spanish television.
He also feels a faction within Renault regard winning a second consecutive constructors’ championship as more important than his own title bid.
“Some others are happy because we went past Ferrari in the team battle,” he said.
“They are not helping me as much as they could.”
Renault hit back in a statement that read: “The team is 150% behind Fernando in his battle for the championship and there is no question of our commitment flagging.
“There is no problem at all with the relations between him and the team.”
The Japanese Grand Prix this weekend is followed by the season-ending race in Brazil on October 22.
