Motor Racing: Alonso Happy at Better Manners

Fernando Alonso signaled yesterday that he is feeling more comfortable at McLaren and that any tension which existed between him and Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the Canadian and US grands prix, is beginning to subside.

Relations threatened to boil over last week after Alonso accused the British team of favoring Hamilton and marshaling their resources behind the 22-year-old formula one novice. McLaren's team principal Ron Dennis denied the claims and insisted both cars had been given equal treatment. But Alonso, who trails Hamilton by 10 points and has finished second behind the Briton in the last two grands prix, continued to express his doubts.

Now, however, the winner of the last two world championships has revealed that parity has been restored behind the scenes and he is anxious to regain his status as the team's No1.

"Since I said that the team were happier for Hamilton's victories, they have taken more care in details," Alonso told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. "They are showing more manners and in the last race, all the team showed a genuine happiness for both drivers.

"We are better than two weeks ago," Alonso added. "We are showing a great reliability, the cars are fast and both drivers can fight for victory or the podium. Now my world championship really begins. France, Great Britain, Germany and Hungary are races that I like and that I have won at some point. I am confident that things will once again go well for me. I feel more comfortable in the car and everything is going better."

Alonso admitted he is not upset that McLaren give Hamilton all of his telemetry: "Hamilton gets my data but I also get his data," he said. "However, the one that gets the car ready on a Friday is me."

Meanwhile Alonso's former boss Flavio Briatore backed the Spanish driver to take a third consecutive world title. "Fernando will win, I'm 100% sure," said the Renault team principal in an interview with Spain's As newspaper. "He knows what he needs to do. Last year there was a moment when it looked like he would lose the title. Everybody thought he was going to lose it. But pushing together we ended up winning."