After a month of rumours and hearsay, the Mclaren team has recently confirmed that Spanish driver Fernando Alonso has agreed to leave Mclaren.

A statement has been released by the team has made it clear that Alonso has quit his contract with two years left to run:
“Following a meeting between Fernando Alonso and McLaren, it was agreed that it would be in the best interests of both parties to bring the relationship to an end,” the statement said.

It was noted that although Alonso eluded to the ups and downs that came in this F1 season, Alonso himself bears no grudges or ill will towards Lewis hamilton of the Mclaren Team.

Of course from all the maelstrom of controversy this year, I think there were a lot of wounds that could not be healed so simply, such as Alonso’s near betrayal of Mclaren at the Paris spygate hearing, and of course the believe that Hamilton was now the favoured one in the team.

While Alonso now is a free agent, there is a big possibility he will move back to Renault for next season, where he was always treat as their champion. This leaves Mclaren open for new possibilities nest year too, and it will be interesting to see who replaces Alonso in the coming months.

However the best bit will be watching Alonso battle Hamilton next year in different cars, and it may shed light to how much difference the cars really make as opposed to the driving.

There was tension in moments up to the chequered flag, watching with my father on Sunday, it was a nail biting start. What I saw was the Ferrari team expertly block Lewis from getting past; Massa carving across to protect the inside line while Kimi speeding past Hamilton’s right to block any way through, forcing Lewis to slow momentarily to avoid collision.

While its certainly not surprising - one thing I’ve not read in the papers anywhere, is Alonso’s lack of any team work whatsoever – after Kimi and Massa block Hamilton into third position, Alonso saw the opportunity to overtake Hamilton when he could have done as the Ferrari team and keep Hamilton a little safer from others overtaking so quickly.

I suppose its a little naïve to expect that level of sportsmanship from Alonso however; the constructor’s championship was already denied, and Alonso had already shown contempt for Mclaren and Lewis Hamilton – he really had no reason to help Lewis out.

Were it not for corporate espionage and equal treatment, both Lewis and Mclaren might have won that Sunday.

But it was not to be. Fighting back, Lewis attempted to go round the outside at the next corner, proved his undoing as he slid wide and dropped to eighth. Hamilton still as keen as ever slipped back into 6th position before his gearbox locked into neutral and left him coasting until he was in 18th place.

It was a salvage operation from then on, and fighting through pit stops and all odds Hamilton did not give up, ending up in 7th place with 109 points: Joint second in the driver’s championship with Alonso.

There are currently ongoing claims of fuel irregularities with the BMW Sauber team. Even after all the opposing attempts to knock Mclaren down on technicalities,
I think it would be unfair and embarrassing to Mclaren and Lewis himself to be given the championship now: Lewis is young and has many more opportunities.

While it is a little disappointing that Hamilton lost the championship, we must remember that at the start of the season, it was only the Hamilton’s dream. A dream not even conceived by race fans, until Lewis showed his brilliance and tenacity on the track and proved he was a very serious contender for the championship.

No one has done what Hamilton has in 57 years of world championship endeavour, not Fangio, not Moss, not Clark, not Senna, not Schumacher.

At 22 he will be coming back stronger next season, proving a force to contend with in 2008.

While Hamilton may have had his championship lead eaten into this Sunday by Alonso, the outcome could not have been a better one for the Mclaren team. Simultaneously it can show Lewis Hamilton to have a sensible, sportsmanlike and tactical attitude towards racing while giving Alonso a victory he probably well deserves.

Alonso reminds us that while Hamilton may be the new wonder on the block, he has worked for years to get to the top and his talent is as formidable as Hamilton’s. Ron Dennis had never looked so relieved and triumphant.

Hamilton admitted he decided to race for points after he flat spotted his tires, worried of another blow out after Turkeys mishap, but he was also clearly unable to get past team-mate Fernando Alonso at either the first corner or the re-start following an early safety car, due to Alonso’s own formidable skill.

Lewis had his own moments of glory however as he retook his 2nd place position with and amazing overtake against Raikonnen breathtaking in its simplicity and confident execution. Hamilton pushed to the inside of the Finn, under braking from 330kmph, he slipped back into second place, underlining his better form this year against Raikonnen’s.

The success has made Alonso the season’s first four-time winner, and a first at Monza.

 ”It was the perfect weekend for me,” he said. “Sometimes I have started good here in Monza and then had some problems in the race and missed the victory, so to finally win here for the first time was very special.”

As this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix approaches, the focus turns from Hamiltons love life, back to the F1 circuit.

Newspapers have been quiet lately apart from news that Hamilton was seen on Holiday with Sarah Ojjeh, eighteen year old daughter of one of the Mclaren team founders and oil magnate, and inevitably the scorn of his ex girlfriend Jodia Ma.

Now Hamilton will be focusing on qualifying at Istanbul Park on Friday and Saturday.

Istanbul Park is one of the only two tracks on the calendar to run anticlockwise and both Alonso and Hamilton have done quite well there:

Alonso has finished second in Turkey for the two years the event has been run.

“It is always great to have a break and recharge the batteries, but it is fantastic to be getting back out on track,” said the 26-year-old Spaniard.

Hamilton finished second in Istanbul a year ago en route to winning the GP2 title - but  that was after a few spins off the track!

“I have great memories of the Istanbul Park,” remarked Hamilton.

“Last year was a defining race in the GP2 championship for me. It felt like a win and it would be great to get on the top step this year.”

Hamilton added: “During the short summer break I have been keeping up with my training to ensure I am fully prepared for this race.”

It has came out now apparently that Hamilton’s colourful exchange had a lot less colour, and true to his perceived “fresh, polite, and well mannered” character, he did not swear at Ron Dennis during qualifying at Budapest.

After being held up by Alonso in the Pits, apparently the conversation according to a source known to the Telegraph, went like this:

Hamilton: “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
Dennis: “Don’t ever speak to me like that again.”
Hamilton: “Go swivel.”

“We were firm with each other,” Dennis admitted, “but going into the details serves no function.”

However Mclaren have made a statement after reviewing the radio exchanges and can confirm there definitely was no swearing involved and said:

“The team and Lewis are extremely disappointed that the use of the ‘F’ word appears to have been invented and repeated to the media.”
Its believed the comments were misheard and exaggerated by eavesdroppers in the Pit Lane, and of course then sensationalised by the press.

Hamilton is keen to emphasise any reports that he used the F-word be corrected or forgotten as he believes his image in the national press took quite a battering afterwards. After all he is a role model to many youngsters in the UK and probably the rest of the world.

From the Telegraph:

Hamilton said: “As an individual in my first year in Formula One, I have done my utmost to conduct myself in a professional and open manner.

“Of course I have made mistakes, not least during the last weekend. Those are open to public scrutiny.

“I have my own regrets and have dealt with matters arising. However, it is disappointing that inflammatory and untrue material is given to the media and published, which may damage reputations. This inflammatory material is then commentated on by many others as if it is factual. Whilst I wouldn’t normally communicate through press statements, I felt it important to set this matter straight.”

Hamilton is on his sailing holiday at the moment and he even plans to meet up with Alonso on his holiday, he maintains that he and Alonso still have a professional working relationship, and although things did heat up in Budapest, it was not the “war” that the Media proclaimed it to be.

As the F1 season moves into a three week break before the Turkish Grand Prix, the aftermath of last weekends controversy is getting raked up and analysed by the press. Two camps have sprung up with very polarised views about who to demonise and who to canonise.

The Sun obviously loves Hamilton with the article “Hamilton Walks on Water” and they have decided to focus on Hamilton’s romantic entanglements on a well deserved yachting holiday with his pals.

It does appear there was more to the “mistake” that Hamilton made too. Although it was originally decided Alonso should be the first McLaren out of the pit lane in the final qualifying session as he is officially the lead driver for the team, Hamilton’s engine was quickest to reach optimum temperature. He left the garage first then refused to step aside as he was concerned about losing position to Raikonnen in the process.

Kevin Garside from the Telegraph writes:

“Lewis Hamilton left Budapest with 10 points in the bag and blood on the floor. Beneath the choirboy exterior lurks the executioner’s instinct. Rookie my foot. If anybody needs a hand holding over the closing stages of a season turning increasingly bitter it is Fernando Alonso, who felt the full force of Hamilton’s ambition at the Hungarian Grand Prix.”

“Alonso subsequently took his own retribution and paid the price. Rightly or wrongly, Hamilton forced through his own agenda and was not holding back after his third career win.”

I imagine it must be awful to be usurped by a young whippersnapper, especially when Alonso was expecting to enjoy a good few years at the top still to come. It’s natural that drivers at the top of their game are highly competitive, but it’s a shame when the competitiveness becomes unsportsmanlike. Alonso has already been seen to use underhand tactics to win races, such as the time he barged Ferrari’s Felipe Massa off the track at the French Grand Prix.

Over at the Alonso camp, after Nigel Mansell’s defence of Alonso yesterday, Eddie Irvine has came out blasting Hamilton’s “Arrogance”, referring to the colourful exchange between Hamilton and his boss Ron Dennis during qualifying.

Eurosport reports - Five years retired Irvine believes Hamilton is getting too big for his boots:
“The disrespect Lewis Hamilton showed to Ron Dennis was quite unbelievable in my opinion,”

Irvine told Virgin Media.

“Lewis is playing a particularly polished and clever game when it comes to appearing cleaner-than-clean to the media but his arrogance is starting to come out now.”

“Success is starting to go to his head and, whilst I challenge any man on the planet in his position not let it do so, the way both he and Alonso are behaving is beyond childish and the way he behaved in Hungary is beyond belief.”

Meanwhile Alonso’s manager has played down the idea that Alonso will actually quit Mclaren stating:

“We are in McLaren to win races and the third title.”That’s our goal. And in these moments there aren’t that many options: just McLaren and Ferrari.”

In the same way, unless something dramatic occurs at September’s spy row appeal in Paris, its unlikely Hamilton will leave Mclaren either.

So I guess they’ll just have to make up.

While Alonso has been told by Ron Dennis that he can leave the team at the end of the year. Lewis Hamilton also has been asked by Ferrarri to sign over to them next year for just under £20million.

While Lewis has wanted to drive for Mclaren for most of his life, the controversy surrounding the Mclaren team at the moment may be a good enough reason to have him thinking twice. Of course if Hamilton keeps up his winning streak in this years F1. I don’t think £20million will be anything but the first of many offers.

Nigel Mansel has been in the papers commenting that he thinks the war of words in the press will only put the sport in a bad light and could ruin Hamiltons career just as it begins. He also believes the money men behind F1 are favouring Hamilton and hence there have been some odd judgments:

He said: “I’m not sure how long Alonso was in the pits but I’m lost for words how you can just demote someone five or six places on the grid.

“I have never seen anything like this in the history of the sport – it’s such a great shame. I do have some sympathy for Alonso, no question.

“If they wanted to fine him or do something else all well and good, but what are they doing demoting him and ruining his race?”

However Mansell is a fan and he supports Hamilton wholeheartedly. He voiced his concerns only with the sport’s governing body.

He said: “They have got to be very careful.
“I’m a huge fan of Lewis but people in the street are saying to me ‘why is everyone favouring him’?

“Let’s not forget what also happened at Nurburgring when they let him stay in the car, lifted him up in the car and put him back on the track before letting him un-lap himself.

“I’m definitely backing Lewis 100 per cent by saying that all this has nothing to do with him.

“He is a great driver who has won all his races and got all his points by fair means. But people are asking: ‘are the powers that be trying to fix it for him’? I think it’s terribly sad.”

How much money is riding on the Hamilton wave of success? Its really sad if “the powers that be” can actually have this amount of influence.

What’s more likely is that while the press are as usual behaving as badly as they want to, the FIA are not likely to be swayed by public opinion and I imagine they are more likely to be annoyed with Mclaren on the whole and care a great deal less about Mclarens in fighting.

As we head towards Sunday’s race in Hungary, it’s almost certain Hamilton can sense McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso “breathing heavily” down his neck:

At todays second free practice session, Fernando Alonso has set the pace with a lap of one minute 20.919 seconds for the 4.384km Hungaroring circuit, ending the session 0.364secs ahead of Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen.

With five minutes remaining, 22-year-old Hamilton lost the back end of his McLaren, spinning and ultimately stalling the car, however he still managed to post the third fastest time.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he enjoys racing at the Hungaroring which he considers a classic:

“I quite like the circuit; it is quite quick considering how tight it is. It is a real classic as well. You have gradient changes, some high and low speed corners and a good chicane up the back. There is one bump right at the back, which is so easy to catch you out, that is what happened to me in qualifying last year.”

Light rain had fell later in the practice session, adding some excitement into the proceedings and increasing the difficulty of the usually dusty Hungaroring surface, which could have been the factor in catching Hamilton out, but no damage was done.

But let’s hope Hamilton’s stall was a product of ironing out that last bump, sometimes pushing past the usual limits can be a good way to test boundaries, and this might end up playing a key part to a possible win on Sunday.

Yesterday was a quiet day for Lewis and Alonzo as McLaren pulled them out of their respective scheduled press conferences as the battle between the team and Ferrari heats up. 

Ron Dennis, eager to shield his drivers from the affair, opted to withdraw Hamilton and Alonso from press duties at the circuit. Hamilton’s only media function of the day was a Karting event in Budapest held by Vodaphone.

Hamilton had been scheduled to conduct a number of group interviews at the McLaren ‘Brand Centre’ - the team’s recently-acquired £10million paddock home, and Alonso was due to appear in the official FIA press conference, but following a request from McLaren he was allowed to pull out without financial penalty.

Back in England his local supermarket have decided to honor Lewis by making his life a little easier away from the track.

The ASDA Supermarket in Stevenage near his home town of Tewis have allocated Lewis a parking spot marked with a plaque initialled L.H. right outside their front door – never will Hamilton have to fight for a space while shopping there again.

After Lewis and the McLaren Mercedes team escaped the spy row, his next challenge is the Hungaroring, near Budapest, renowned as one of the most gruelling venues in racing.

The bets coming in for Lewis Hamilton to win the world championship in his first season are beginning to tail off as he comes under increased pressure from his teammate Fernando Alonso and ever improving rival Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton has fell out of the odds of becoming the winner of the drivers championship and is now 15/8 to win the title in his maiden year behind new favorite Fernando Alonso at 11/8.

Hamilton has a challenge in this weekend’s Hungarian GP and William Hill expect him to be second in the drivers championship after the race despite his current position.

“Punters are starting to desert Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers Championship as Alonso hits form - this weekend’s result is make or break for Lewis,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

Next weekend, the 70-lap event traditionally takes place in 30C heat, and the 2.722-mile track offers drivers little respite. After being extended in 2003 the pit straight is still relatively short and the circuit comprises a relentless sequence of 14 corners. Only Monaco has slower average lap speeds. In dry conditions overtaking is near impossible due to the circuit layout and dusty conditions.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is joint 2/1 favourite with Fernando Alonso to win the race with Hamilton at 10/3.

After failing to score in last weekend’s Grand Prix of Europe at the Nurburgring, Hamilton only leads the drivers championship by two points. His performance in Jerez however leads us to believe he still remains in good form.

Hamilton is still confident of success this weekend.

“We have as good a chance as anyone at the race,” said Hamilton.
 
“We have a great car, and it is important that I go with a clear mind and the same approach as normal (referring to the ‘spy’ saga with Ferrari). There is no reason why we can’t go there and win.”

Hamilton competed at the Hungaroring in last year’s GP2 series. Although he crashed before he had set a qualifying time, having to start last of 26 on the grid, he sped through the race to finish 10th, and took second place in the following race. Overtaking in GP2 cars is a little easier however, as they are considered to be less sensitive.

If you still have faith in Hamilton to be the first British winner of the Formula 1 World Championship since Damon Hill in 1996, then now seems like the time to back him.