By Glenn Freeman and Pablo Elizalde Monday, April 23rd 2007, 09:50 GMT
Mercedes Benz motorsport chief Norbert Haug insists Fernando Alonso had no problems dealing with Lewis Hamilton beating him at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The two-time world champion finished in fifth place in the Sakhir race, three places behind rookie teammate Hamilton, who joined Alonso at the top of the championship standings after three races.
But despite Hamilton's sensational start to the season, Haug says Alonso is not having trouble digesting the Briton's success.
"Fernando was congratulating him (in Bahrain)," Haug told autosport.com. "We are a team, and it was not a big deal. He was only five seconds behind the third place car.
"He didn't feel 100 per cent comfortable with the brakes, and there is absolutely no doubt that he is a first class driver, so there was no blame for him.
"That's how racing goes. Really that's it. He did not feel 100 per cent comfortable with the brakes, but never forget that he still could have beaten the second Ferrari. I am 100 per cent convinced that he could have been ahead of Kimi, it was 10 metres in the pitstops.
"That's how racing goes sometimes. You saw in the TV interviews afterwards he was smiling and happy to give interviews, he is a great guy. He has the full support and the full trust of us."
Although both drivers are tied on 22 points at the top of the standings, Haug says McLaren have no intention to back just one of the them in order to have a better chance of taking the title.
"They are always equal," he added. "We never have a number one and a number two. Our drivers wouldn't like to have anything else, and that's what I would like."
