Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren chief, feels that world champion Alonso’s ‘self belief’ will carry him through this period of what appears to be a lack of confidence. Alonso’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, has wowed most Formula 1 observers with a stellar start to the season. Hamilton’s performance has ensured that the limelight is well and truly on the youngster rather than on Alonso, and this is believed to have irked the Spaniard.
Alonso was seen supposedly having a heart-to-heart with Ron Dennis at the Sakhir track ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, a talk described as ‘a paternal touch’. However, this talk did not help Alonso as he finished fifth, three places behind teammate Hamilton. The only comfort Alonso can take is that he is currently tied leader in the driver’s standings with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Of the relationship between the two McLaren teammates, Whitmarsh said, “I think the two guys are very open and honest with each other and the team. They both want to beat each other and providing that is in a constructive manner, which is has been so far, then that is positive.
“If a racing driver doesn’t want to beat his teammate then there has to be something wrong with that. But our guys are really true competitors. I think Fernando has tremendous resilience, self-belief and confidence.
“He will recognise he has come out of the first three races as co-leader of the championship and he will fancy his chances of getting the job done.”
