Latest F1 news in brief
- Angry Spaniards side with Alonso
- Albers rules out Spyker test seat
- Todt defends Dennis talks snub
- BMW says no to Alonso gossip
Angry Spaniards side with Alonso
(GMM) Spain sided vigorously against all quarters – except its national hero – after the Hungarian grand prix.
"Like that, you could win anything," the newspaper Marca said, deriding the circumstances in which Fernando Alonso's McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton won on Sunday.
Diario As called Hamilton's win "an immoral triumph" and "the victory of Judas", referring to how the British rookie disobeyed a team order before accusing Alonso of deliberately holding him up in the infamous qualifying pitstop.
Marca added: "Hamilton took advantage of the gift from the FIA".
Spain's motor sports federation, the RFEA, also attacked the stewards' decision to penalize Alonso, and vowed to explore "all the available measures … to clear up this conflict".
Marca even claimed that Alonso and his father Jose Luis have asked former team boss, mentor and manager Flavio Briatore, of Renault, for advice about how to break his contract with McLaren and flee to another team.
The newspaper adds that Alonso placed a "Hamilton or me" ultimatum to Ron Dennis in Hungary regarding 2008.
Briatore said: "I don't know anything about that. This is a McLaren problem, not mine."
Albers rules out Spyker test seat
(GMM) Christijan Albers has now dropped his threat to sue Spyker for dumping him from its formula one lineup.
After a defaulting sponsor failed to pay its bills to Spyker, the 28-year-old has now told a Dutch television station that he is currently in talks with the team head Michiel Mol about the future.
"I would like to race, but that is not possible," Albers, who has now been replaced full-time by Japanese pay-driver Sakon Yamamoto, said.
"We must examine how and if I can remain in the Spyker family," he added, but he ruled out becoming a test driver.
Albers commented: "I do not see that as an option. We all know that Spyker do not test much."
Todt defends Dennis talks snub
(GMM) Jean Todt has justified rejecting his McLaren counterpart Ron Dennis' plea for espionage peace talks as "too little too late".
Confirming Dennis' statements this week that Todt had ruled out finding a behind-the-scenes settlement to the saga, the Ferrari boss told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I would have preferred if he made this proposal four months ago.
"Then we could have avoided all this damage to the image of formula one and the serious consequences that Ferrari is enduring."
BMW says no to Alonso gossip
(GMM) BMW's Mario Theissen has counted the Munich manufacturer out of speculation that Fernando Alonso could be Hinwil-bound at the end of 2007.
A Renault return is the obvious favorite amid speculation that Spaniard Alonso wants to desert his McLaren contract, but it has been pointed out by the media that BMW-Sauber team principal Theissen has been recently open in his admiration for F1's reigning world champion.
Sport-Informations-Dienst, however, quoted the German chief as saying in Hungary: "That is not momentarily a topic for us."
Instead, it is rumored strongly that – during the August break – Theissen will finalize Nick Heidfeld's new contract to drive alongside Robert Kubica in 2008.