Alonso reined in over ‘polemic’ outburst
ROME: Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo on Monday rebuked the team’s star driver Fernando Alonso over comments the Spaniard made following Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Alonso, a two-time world champion, was unhappy following his fifth-placed finish which saw him slip to third in the world championship standings and 39 points behind three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Alonso said Ferrari ‘‘need to improve the car if we are going to have chances to win the world championship’’.
Although Montezemolo agreed he wasn’t satisfied with the car’s performance, he reminded Alonso that he needed to be more of a team player.
‘‘All the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own,’’ Montezemolo said on the Ferrari website.
‘‘This is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and show humility and determination in making one’s own contribution, standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside it.’’
The article carrying the president’s quotes expressly stated they were directed at Alonso.
‘‘That was a reference to the latest comments from Fernando Alonso, which did not go down well with Montezemolo, nor with anyone in the team,’’ it said.
‘‘So, when Montezemolo called the Spaniard this morning to wish him a happy birthday, he also tweaked his ear.’’
Alonso has recently been linked with a move to Red Bull, whose Australian driver Mark Webber is retiring at the end of the season.
His manager was alleged to have met with Red Bull boss Christian Horner in Hungary, although Alonso claimed to have been unaware of it.
Alonso said the four-week summer break in Formula One was a time when rumours ran wild.
‘‘Always with four weeks with no Formula One it’s a very dangerous period for us, and the media, but hopefully we will have a quiet summer,’’ he said.