By Pablo Elizalde Saturday, October 6th 2007, 12:00 GMT
World champion Fernando Alonso thinks he deserved to have been treated better by McLaren this season, as he angrily hit back at criticism from team boss Ron Dennis ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Having already conceded that his championship hopes were finally all but over, and clearly feeling his chances will not be compromised by attacking the team, Alonso launched an extraordinary outburst against his treatment by McLaren when speaking to Spanish reporters after qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
"I was expecting a lot more, we all were," Alonso said. "From the outside, the team had a different image: serious, but very professional. And I arrived here after two titles; I improved the car as much as I could.
"Last year they were fighting to make it into Q3 and this year they are going to win the championship, and the truth is that the treatment has not been very good."
When asked if the treatment he received was that deserved by a two-time champion, Alonso said: "Not a double champion, but a normal person."
Alonso was also clearly unimpressed by claims from Dennis from earlier in the weekend, when the McLaren boss said he was disappointed by the Spaniard's failure to defend the team against suggestions of favouritism.
"It's better to be silent than to lie, that's for sure," said Alonso about Dennis' remarks. "And that's something he should do more often and I think the team would do better. Many of the scandals McLaren have been involved in off the track this year have been created by his things.
"Each one has his own philosophy, he has his, and we all understand it. I have spoken a lot with (David) Coulthard, with (Juan Pablo) Montoya, with Kimi (Raikkonen), and they have all left the team and found a lot of happiness. There must be a reason."
The double world champion, whose future at McLaren is already in doubt, was also critical of Dennis's policy of equality at the team, although the Spaniard made it clear he had not been promised preferential treatment when he joined the team.
"He (Dennis) didn't promise me anything," he said. "You are always hearing about that so called equality in the team, but tell me what you brag about and I'll tell you what you are lacking.
"It's impossible to have equality in a Formula One team, there's always a better engine, a better lap to stop in, there's always a better option.
"I'm not saying it's not equality, because sometimes it's one driver's turn and other times it's the other's, but you always hear him talk about that or promising things, and it's not like that."
Alonso, who has a contract with McLaren for the next two years but is increasingly unlikely to see out the deal, confessed he is unsure if he will be at the team in 2008.
"I don't know. What happens next year is another matter. All I know is that I have a contract here and we will see next year. There are 10 teams that could be interested in me.
"I'm ready to do the best I can, to help the team, to have a good car and try to win races. But they ... things like what they say or do, or days like at Spa, or all the lies that they leak to the press, both British and German, to go against me. That, inside my own team...They have to do something to improve the situation."
The double champion conceded, however, that teammate Lewis Hamilton will be a worthy champion if he becomes the first rookie to win the title.
"I think so, I think he deserves it if he wins it in the end," Alonso added. "I think you have to know how to win and how to lose, and if I don't win this year it's because someone has scored more points than me, and if that's the case it's because he has done a better job."
Alonso will start tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix from fourth place while Hamilton secured his sixth pole of the season. The British driver needs to finish ahead of Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to clinch the title.
