Alonso: I’m not bigger than the team

Fernando Alonso has denied he retired from the Belgian Grand Prix prematurely as a move to throw his weight around at McLaren-Honda as its future hangs in the balance.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion retired at the midway stage of the Spa race with a suspected engine fault but after Honda assessed his power unit they discovered no problems with it. That fuelled speculation Alonso had retired early in Belgium but speaking to the media at Monza he has resolutely shutdown the theory by stating he wouldn’t wreck the work of the entire McLaren-Honda team.

Alonso says he stopped in Spa as he saw sensor issues pop up a few laps before he pitted and fearing another engine blow he opted against risking the power unit.

“I am not bigger than the team,” Alonso said. “We have 1,000 people at McLaren and Honda working for the championship. We know that things are not going in the right direction, we are not competitive enough after three years, but we all want to change that situation.

“There are 1,000 people there and I am probably the least important one. For McLaren it is crucial to improve the situation so they are the first who want to improve as the second best team in the history of the sport with numbers. The team that has won the second most times in Monza. We are McLaren and we all want the same thing: to be competitive.

“People forgot that I was racing for three years fighting to get out of Q1, fighting at the starts, pushing the car in Hungary up the hill in Q1 to get another run and I tried to race with a broken rib in Bahrain. When I read that I thought people are not concentrating on the real things happening.”

Alonso has resisted entering talks on his future until he understands McLaren-Honda’s partnership, which remains unconfirmed beyond 2017, but says he will seek clarification of Honda’s progress and potential if the co-operation continues next year.

"I would sit down with McLaren and sit down with Honda to see what their expectations are and what are the conditions," he said. "I will probably see more in detail not just at McLaren but also in Japan by flying there to see the real developments and after that make a decision."