A McLaren Dream Team Breakdown?

Despite McLaren currently holding both championship leads, behind the scenes this has been one of McLaren's worst seasons. It all started when there were rumours of "Team Orders" in Monaco. Later, and currently still going, is the Espionage case with Ferrari that could see their 2007 and 2008 seasons ruined, and to top it all off, they now have the controversy of the Hungarian GP weekend.

This, not suprisignly, has created major tension between both drivers in McLaren, and after this weekend, many stories have been emerging about the fallout from the weekend. Here, I will post all these stories, and you can have your say: Is the "Dream Team" of McLaren falling to pieces?

ALONSO'S NOT TALKING TO ME, ADMITS LEWIS:

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso has not spoken to him since the qualifying controversy at the Hungaroring on Saturday.

The world champion was stripped of pole position and relegated tosixth on the grid after stewards deemed he had unnecessarily held-up his rookie team-mate in the pit lane in the dying minutes of the final part of qualifying.

McLaren's problems were triggered by Hamilton's decision to ignore team orders instructing him to let the Spaniard pass him on the opening lap of the fuel-burn phase.

The Briton says he has apologised to the team since for his own actions but admits Alonso hasn't spoken to him since the controversy blew up.

"He doesn't seem to have been speaking to me since yesterday, so I don't know if he has a problem," he said in a press conference following his win on Sunday.

"In terms of speaking to the team, I spoke to everyone, I have told everyone the situation, apologised if they feel I have done something against them but this is the way it is.

"It is higher than them if you know what I mean."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis told ITV Sport after Hamilton's victory that there were tensions and mistrust between his two drivers amid their close championship battle.

Hamilton admits it is hard to have a close relationship with an equally competitive team-mate and that each driver's determination to win has created tensions between the pair.

"I think it is always difficult," he said.

"I have had it with every team I have been in.

"When you have the two most competitive people in the team, possibly the two most competitive people around, both wanting to win. It puts the team under immense pressure.

"It is just extremely hard for everyone to play fair and to make it easy.

"That's why sometimes it appears that one driver is favoured over the other.

"That's why sometimes I feel he is favoured and vice-versa."

However he insists that he doesn't holda grudgeagainst the Spaniard and that his respect for the double world champion's career achievements remains.

"I think going on from now, I hope he still speaks to me," he said.

"I am easy to get along with, I don't hold grudges on anyone.

"I'm still leading the championship, I haven't lost respect for him.

"If he doesn't want to speak to me than that is for him to decide, but I'm open."

SOURCE: ITV-F1

RON ADMITS TO MISTRUST BETWEEN DRIVERS:

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis has admitted that there are tensions and mistrust between his two drivers amid their intense battle for the world championship - but insists the team will maintain its commitment to treating them scrupulously equally.

Dennis was visibly emotional after a tumultuous weekend in which Fernando Alonso was relegated five grid positions for impeding Lewis Hamilton in the pit lane during qualifying and the team precluded from scoring any constructors' points.

Although Hamilton beat Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for victory on Sunday and Alonso finished fourth, Dennis said he felt "empty" and too emotionally drained to take any pleasure from the result.

"I'm pretty tired to be honest," he told ITV Sport's Steve Rider.

"A lot of stress, a lot of pressure and a bit of emptiness at the end of an extremely difficult weekend for the company and for the team.

"I am so drained it is difficult to have any emotion left."

Asked by Mark Blundell about the relationship between Alonso and Hamilton, Dennis admitted that the team is finding their rivalry difficult to handle and that it has generated some mistrust between them.

"There is a tremendous amount of tension in the team and the tension really comes - understandably maybe - from two guys who are phenomenally competitive and who are currently heading the world championship points and are looking for every advantage they can get in a system which does not generate advantage," he said.

"There are frustrations with both of them and sometimes mistrust with both of them."

Nonetheless Dennis is adamant that McLaren will not try to resolve the situation by giving one driver preferential treatment or nominating a de facto number one.

"It's tough for us, but we will not deviate from equality - it's the foundation of the company," he said.

"In the end we head both championships still.

"We have taken a difficult emotional blow.

"We've just got to dig deep and emerge from it, and that's what we will do. But we will not, under any circumstances, favour one driver over the other."

Dennis again spoke of his distress at the consequences that flowed from the team's qualifying procedures going awry.

"What happened yesterday was really unacceptable," he said.

"We have a very, very strong commitment to parity.

"This was one of those times when as hard as you try - and we try very hard - there was a deviation from our plans in qualifying, and that put the team in an extremely difficult position which has cost us all of the constructors' points today in the event that we don't follow through with lodging an appeal."

SOURCE: ITV-F1

ALONSO'S McLAREN FUTURE UNCERTAIN:

Fernando Alonso's long-term future at McLaren hasbeen thrown into questionafter speculation grew over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend that he may look to leave the team at the end of the season.

The double world champion is contracted to the Mercedes-powered squad until the end of the 2008 season but the future length of that partnership now seems uncertain after the Spaniard's relationship with team-mate Lewis Hamilton reached new levels of tension at the weekend.

Alonso was asked about his future with the team in an interview with the Spanish media following his fourth-place finish in Hungary.

And when asked if it was possible to continue with the current situation at McLaren for the duration of his contract he replied: "I don't know".

The speculation about the 26-year-old led McLaren boss Ron Dennis to answer questions about the Spaniard's future in his own post-race press briefing.

However the Briton said such speculation is always inevitable and that his team would respect its contracts with both Alonso and Hamilton - adding that he hoped both drivers would do the same.

"There is an inevitability that these things are rumoured and discussed in other teams," he said.

"We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future.

"We will respect our part of that bargain and that part of the situation.

"We hope that the drivers respect theirs because that's what a contract is about."

The rumours surrounding Alonso's McLaren come after his former team Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds recently admitted that the world champion squad hoped he would one day return to them.

The Spaniard spent five seasons as a test and then race driver with the Anglo-French squad, winning both of his world titles there and establishing himself as the successor to Michael Schumacher as Formula 1's pre-eminent driver.

Symonds was asked in an interview in the August issue of F1 Racing magazine if Renault could or world take its former protégé back.

"Would we? Yes. Could we? I hope so," Symonds responded.

"He is a damn good driver though and we'd happily have him back.

"I'd love to think that one day he might come back."

SOURCE: ITV-F1

The problem probably started when they discovered that Lewis was performing as good as Alonso. I'm pretty sure the plan was to have Alonso leading the team, with Hamilton adding in some podium finishes here and there. Then Alonso would win the title, be happy, and he'd stay for another year, potentially giving McLaren at least two constructors championship titles. It hasn't happened that way. Because they are as good as each other, it means that one team mate will not want to be used as a tactical car, slowing down the Ferrari's while the other speeds off and gets a 30 second lead of the race. It think Hamilton was to be this tactical 'blockade', but because he has been meeting and sometimes exceeding the performance of his team mate, the team's plans have been jeopardised.

What happened during qualifying was strange. It's almost like they tried to use Hamilton for his 'original purpose', as a second place barrier protecting Alonso. LH stood up to the team though, because he was having none of it. I think he has had a victory within the team, because he may have just forced the team to accept that he could win the title himself, and the fact that they can't put him second choice just to keep Alonso happy and on the team.

What needs to happen now is for any idea of favouritism to end, and for the team to support both of their drivers until the end of the championship. Ron Dennis should just forget about what Alonso will do next year, because if he wants to keep him, he may have to harm Hamilton's championship. And from his expressions and what's been said this weekend, he isn't prepared to do that again.

the situation at mclaren is funny because it appears to me that alonso have taken the schumi approach to things this season as he probably expected that lewis would play second fiddle to him all season with being double world champ and all. the schumi tactic of winning by any means possible showed on saturday during qualifying and i actualy liked what he did because it made it more interesting. i can't tell you how dissapointed i was to see alonso punished it should have been left to mclaren to sort it out

as for the "break down" there is none. it's just two competitive, strong willed drivers in the same team and i think they just want to race each other properly which i don't believe they arebeing allowed to do (like ferrari and schumi) because they are both aggressive drivers and we've all seen how alonso gets.i think theteam are fine just some minor internal problems they could be together for some years yet so the issues they have now will change over time so don't write of the dream team yet!

ALONSO FREE TO LEAVE McLAREN:

Ron Dennis has signalled that Fernando Alonso is free to leave McLaren after this season if he is cannot live with the team's commitment to treating both drivers equally.

Alonso is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2009, but after his increasingly tense relationship with team-mate Lewis Hamilton flared up in Hungary, he told the Spanish press that he was unsure whether he would see out the three years.

Alonso is understood to be unhappy that Hamilton has been given equal status in the team, when he had expectations of being the clear lead driver.

But Dennis remains adamant that McLaren's commitment to parity between the two drivers is non-negotiable.

"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 - irrespective of where they sit in the organisation - ultimately they will have a choice," he said.

"But we will not deviate away from our values."

Despite the tense atmosphere in the team, Dennis is hopeful that both Alonso and Hamilton will see out their multi-year contracts.

"We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future," he said.

"We will respect our part of that bargain and that part of the situation.

"We hope that the drivers respect theirs because that's what a contract is about."

SOURCE: ITV-F1

McLAREN: LEWIS DIDN'T SWEAR AT DENNIS:

McLaren has issued a statement on Lewis Hamilton's behalfcategorically denying thatthe rookieswore atteam boss Ron Dennis over the radio during qualifying in Hungary last Saturday.

The British press widely reported on Sunday that the rookie had twice used the 'F-word'towards his long-time mentor during a heated exchange towards the end of the session after feeling the team had deliberately held him up behind Fernando Alonso in the pit lane as a punishment fordisobeying team orders.

Both Dennis and Hamilton admitted that there had been an exchange of views during the session, with the McLaren boss quoted as saying that thelanguage used had been "100% materially wrong".

However on ThursdayMcLaren issued a statementsaying that reports ofHamilton swearinghad been totally inaccurate and that he had been unhappy that it had been reported as such.

"Over the last few days there has been some inaccurate and misleading reporting of certain events which transpired during the qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix," the statement read.

"Whilst the team would normally not comment on such speculation, Lewis has asked us to correct one important matter of untrue critical commentary.

"It has been reported that Lewis used the "F word" to Ron Dennis over the team radio immediately after the qualification session had been completed.

"The team have investigated this claim and reviewed the radio transmissions and we can categorically confirm that Lewis did not use the "F word" at any time during any conversation with the team.

"The team and Lewis are extremely disappointed that the use of the "F word" appears to have been invented and repeated to the media."

SOURCE: ITV-F1

HAMILTON: I'M NOT AT WAR WITH ALONSO:

Lewis Hamilton has moved to quell suggestions that he is no longer on speaking terms with Fernando Alonso by insisting that he and his team-mate "continue to have a professional working relationship" and are not "at war" with each other.

The rivalry between the McLaren drivers bubbled over at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix after Hamilton disregarded team instructions in the early part of qualifying and Alonso later held him up in the pits, which cost the Briton a chance of pole position.

After winning the race on Sunday Hamilton admitted that he and Alonso had not spoken since the controversy erupted, adding that "I don't know if he has a problem".

That prompted observers to conclude that the inevitably tense relationship between the title protagonists had completely broken down.

But McLaren released a statement on Thursday saying Hamilton had asked to correct that perception.

The 22-year-old says he and Alonso have spoken to each other this week and plan to meet up before the next race in Turkey.

"For the record, Fernando and I are fiercely competitive and respectful of each other," Hamilton said.

"We are both ambitious drivers who want to win. However, we are not drivers at war, as has been widely reported.

"Although we did not speak on Sunday we have spoken since the weekend and continue to have a professional working relationship.

"In fact, Fernando and I plan to meet up over the holiday period.

"As an individual in my first year in Formula 1 I have done my utmost to conduct myself in a professional and open manner.

"Of course, I have made mistakes, not least during the last weekend, and those are open to public scrutiny.

"I have my own regrets and have dealt with matters arising.

"However, it is disappointing that inflammatory and untrue material is given to the media and published which may damage reputations.

"This inflammatory material is then commentated on by many others as if it is factual.

"Whilst I wouldn't normally communicate through press statements, I felt it important to set this matter straight."

SOURCE: ITV-F1