The press were delighted with Alonso's sudden swing towards the pits on the lap following his failed attempt to get past Hamilton - more fuel for their guesses at needle between the McLaren drivers, of course. The really silly thing about all the speculation is that it is true in essence and would be strange if it weren't.
Put yourself in Alonso's place: two world championships (both of which he had to work hard for and beat Raikkonen and Michael at the same time), he takes an enormous chance in moving to McLaren (desperately non-competitive in 2006), gets lucky in that the MP4-22 turns out to be a winner, and then suddenly his rookie team mate starts beating him. Wouldn't you be a bit miffed too?
The point is these are racing drivers and their aim is always to be the best, therefore. They have to believe in their abilities or they wouldn't be in F1 at all and so it is perfectly natural that each of them will find reasons why their team mate beats them, if it happens. That is necessary for the preservation of the psyche.
But the assumption that the drivers must hate each other as a result is going too far. That ignores the fact that they have to work together if they are to remain competitive against the other teams. And so most drivers explain their losses to themselves (perhaps with occasional unwary comments to the media) and then get on with the job. It is rare for team mates to become so antagonistic that they start pushing each other off in the races - that helps neither of them.
It seems to me that Alonso is handling the situation at McLaren entirely in character. He had his moments of petulance last year when Renault were handicapped by the ban on mass dampers and it is only to be expected that he will not enjoy seeing Hamilton taking the top step of the podium from him. Remember that he also seems to have the ability to forget all that when in the car, however. His performances against Michael in the final races of 2006 were masterful, devoid of any indication of nerves or immaturity. He has pressed on in adversity before and can do it again.
Of course, the media (and Alain Prost) would like these signs of tension to indicate a war developing inside McLaren - there is nothing that sells newspapers better than conflict. But they overstate their case. There is some tension, understandably, but Ron Dennis will keep a tight rein on it and prevent things getting out of hand. It's what he does, after all.
Ferrari has a similar problem but it is just one of several. Their chief concern must be that the car is no longer the best and they are losing ground to McLaren. Whether or not this is a result of the dispersal of the dream team of previous years is a debatable point, but the fact remains that the present team has to deal with it. Time will tell whether the tweaks in the pipeline can get the cars to the front again but I doubt it - every team has new bits to add and should improve. The season begins to look like one of those McLaren steamroller jobs.
To return to the subject of team mates, Nick Heidfeld must be looking over his shoulder a bit more often than before. It seems that his boss, Mario Theissen has a never-ending stream of very quick youngsters to put in the second car, each one quicker than the last. Does Nick ever wonder how long it will be before BMW finds one that beats him? Theissen's insistence on leaving the signing of contracts until later in the season must be a bit unsettling for Heidfeld too, but you can bet he will keep giving of his best as a result. I reckon Mario went to the same School of Psychology as Gerhard Berger did...
Put yourself in Alonso's place: two world championships (both of which he had to work hard for and beat Raikkonen and Michael at the same time), he takes an enormous chance in moving to McLaren (desperately non-competitive in 2006), gets lucky in that the MP4-22 turns out to be a winner, and then suddenly his rookie team mate starts beating him. Wouldn't you be a bit miffed too?
The point is these are racing drivers and their aim is always to be the best, therefore. They have to believe in their abilities or they wouldn't be in F1 at all and so it is perfectly natural that each of them will find reasons why their team mate beats them, if it happens. That is necessary for the preservation of the psyche.
But the assumption that the drivers must hate each other as a result is going too far. That ignores the fact that they have to work together if they are to remain competitive against the other teams. And so most drivers explain their losses to themselves (perhaps with occasional unwary comments to the media) and then get on with the job. It is rare for team mates to become so antagonistic that they start pushing each other off in the races - that helps neither of them.
It seems to me that Alonso is handling the situation at McLaren entirely in character. He had his moments of petulance last year when Renault were handicapped by the ban on mass dampers and it is only to be expected that he will not enjoy seeing Hamilton taking the top step of the podium from him. Remember that he also seems to have the ability to forget all that when in the car, however. His performances against Michael in the final races of 2006 were masterful, devoid of any indication of nerves or immaturity. He has pressed on in adversity before and can do it again.
Of course, the media (and Alain Prost) would like these signs of tension to indicate a war developing inside McLaren - there is nothing that sells newspapers better than conflict. But they overstate their case. There is some tension, understandably, but Ron Dennis will keep a tight rein on it and prevent things getting out of hand. It's what he does, after all.
Ferrari has a similar problem but it is just one of several. Their chief concern must be that the car is no longer the best and they are losing ground to McLaren. Whether or not this is a result of the dispersal of the dream team of previous years is a debatable point, but the fact remains that the present team has to deal with it. Time will tell whether the tweaks in the pipeline can get the cars to the front again but I doubt it - every team has new bits to add and should improve. The season begins to look like one of those McLaren steamroller jobs.
To return to the subject of team mates, Nick Heidfeld must be looking over his shoulder a bit more often than before. It seems that his boss, Mario Theissen has a never-ending stream of very quick youngsters to put in the second car, each one quicker than the last. Does Nick ever wonder how long it will be before BMW finds one that beats him? Theissen's insistence on leaving the signing of contracts until later in the season must be a bit unsettling for Heidfeld too, but you can bet he will keep giving of his best as a result. I reckon Mario went to the same School of Psychology as Gerhard Berger did...