Alonso revealed what effectively ended his relationship with McLaren in 2007

The Spaniard said it came after then-team principal Ron Dennis claimed “we push together” against “Fernando”, referring to a world championship record-breaking challenge to F1 pioneer Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso joined McLaren directly from Renault after winning two world championships and teamed up with Lewis Hamilton, who was just starting his F1 career.

It soon became clear that he was no ordinary rookie. The Brit was able to deal time and time again with his more experienced teammate, with the added support of the whole team behind him, which did not please the Spaniard.

This situation led to a lot of friction within the team, most memorably during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix when Alonso deliberately widened his pit to prevent Lewis Hamilton from starting his final fast lap.

An angry Ron Dennis was caught on camera throwing his headphones, and stewards later reviewed the actions of the two-time world champion and gave him a five-point penalty at the start of the race.

The fight between Dennis and Alonso also continued on Sunday morning before the race itself, with the BBC later claiming that it was then that Alonso told his boss that he had access to emails related to what was known. intelligence scandal and threatening to give evidence to the FIA.

The Spygate scandal was brought to light and McLaren was eventually found guilty of industrial espionage and banned from the 2007 World Constructors’ Championship and fined an unprecedented $100 million.

All this, according to Alonso, was still not the nail in the coffin in their relationship. It happened during an equally memorable race in China when Hamilton, who had a 12-point lead in the championship, landed awkwardly on the gravel shoulder on badly worn tyres.

A situation that certainly crossed the partnership between Alonso and McLaren occurred shortly after. Ron Dennis was said to have said at the time that McLaren was not fighting against Ferrari driver Felipe Massa but against Fernando Alonso.

“This season has not been well managed by our bosses,” Alonso told the Daily Mail. “We were young. We were not mature. We were not what we are today and we needed help from the board which we did not get.”

“I couldn’t keep up with McLaren. It was a team focused entirely on one side of the garage.”

“Ron said after the qualifying race in China that our race is not with Massa, but with Fernando. When the team says something like that, you can’t stay there. But that’s what work teaches you.”

The team then issued a statement: “Following the meeting between Fernando Alonso and McLaren, we agreed that it would be in the best interest of both parties to end the partnership.”

Dennis added: “He’s a good player, but for some reason the combination of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Fernando didn’t work. We got to a point where neither of us could imagine working together.”

Alonso, on the other hand, said “it’s no secret that I’ve never felt at home in Woking”.

So it seemed that the Spaniard had crossed his path back to McLaren for good, but life wrote a completely different scenario. Unfortunately, it’s not very surprising. Years later, Alonso rejoined McLaren directly from Ferrari in 2015. However, the partnership with Honda did not go as planned by the team and the driver himself, who, running at the back of the field, with a very emergency car, got very frustrated, in the end he finished partnership after four seasons and rest from. Formula 1 racing. He only returned to the field in 2021 for Alpine and currently races for Aston Martin and is ranked third in the Drivers’ Championship.