The degenerating relationship between McLaren team mates, Alonso and Hamilton, last year re-focused attention on the delicate business of balancing personal ambition with the needs of the team in F1. Many times the competition between Alonso and Hamilton was likened to that between Prost and Senna, also at McLaren, but that was actually a rather different circumstance. Ayrton and Alain became team mates at a time when they were recognized as the best drivers in F1; Fernando's problems emanated from the fact that his rookie team mate proved far quicker than anyone had expected.
Alan Jones, Zolder 1981
Looking back through history, there are plenty of examples of team mate relationships turning sour. Perhaps the most famous is the breakdown between Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi at the San Marino GP of 1982 but there were others that lasted longer and were just as acrimonious. The closest parallel to the Alonso/Hamilton feud happened in 1981 between Williams team mates, Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann.
Jones was a tough, uncompromising Australian who had served his apprenticeship in F1 with a series of lesser teams, actually scoring a win for Shadow in the Austrian GP of 1977. The talent was there but it seemed that none of the top teams were interested. Even his move to Williams in 1978 seemed inauspicious - this was before the team were to become one of the best.
Towards the end of 1979, Williams introduced the car that was to conquer the world, the FW07. Jones won four races at the end of the season and was catapulted into the position of favorite for the following year. At the same time, Williams acquired the services of Carlos Reutemann, another respected driver who had led Ferrari's challenge and finished third in the Lotus 79's all-conquering year, 1978. In spite of a long career in F1, the Argentinian remained somewhat enigmatic, on occasion brilliant but apparently uninterested at other times. The feeling remained that, if he could just get his head right, he was a potential champion.
It looked a strong driving team and, in 1980, it duly delivered, Jones winning the championship from Nelson Piquet while Reutemann was third, so guaranteeing Williams of the constructor's crown. In 1981, however, tensions surfaced. Reutemann seems to have been of the opinion that it was his turn to be champion, having assisted the Australian to the title the previous year. Jones did not see things in quite the same light, being as hungry for race wins as ever.
The FW07 was still the car to beat as the season commenced and Jones won the first race, the USGP West in Long Beach. In the next race, the Brazilian GP, however, Reutemann disobeyed team orders and took the victory. Jones was furious and vowed to gain the championship without the help of his team mate. The season developed into a battle between the two, culminating in a Las Vegas race in which Piquet did just enough to beat both of them to the title.
The battle between the Williams team mates had been so bitter that it soured both drivers' attitudes to F1. Jones retired at the end of the year, perhaps prematurely, for he returned briefly in 1983 and then had another stint from 1985-86. Reutemann stayed on for the '82 season but then abruptly retired after two races and never returned to the sport.
Although there are differences from the Alonso/Hamilton confrontation, the causes were similar. Jones/Reutemann was essentially an argument over status within the team, one feeling that his time had come, the other certain that he should be number one. With Alonso and Hamilton there was that same reluctance within the team to prefer one driver over another; and so one was left feeling that his established talents were not being recognized while the other felt that he had a right to equal treatment regardless of how new to the game he was.
It does put a big question mark over the policy of not having an established lead driver within a team. All drivers are highly competitive and will take whatever advantage they can get in the battle to win races and be champion. And, when abilities are about equal, a clash becomes almost inevitable.