Fernando Alonso: Ferrari right to query Sebastian Vettel's Brazil move

Several days after Vettel beat Alonso to the 2012 Formula 1 title at Interlagos, Ferrari wrote to the FIA seeking clarification following the emergence of video footage intimating that Vettel passed Vergne under yellow flags.

The FIA declared that the pass took place after a green flag so was legal - an explanation Ferrari accepted.

Although Alonso stayed out of the row, when questioned at the Ferrari World Finals event at Valencia on Sunday he backed his team's decision.

"There were a lot of video clips on the Internet and we knew our fans were asking for an explanation and so it was right for Ferrari to turn to the Federation for a clarification," Alonso said.

"We got a reply and I think everything has now calmed down.

"I did not pay much attention to all the uproar this incident caused, but I felt we owed our fans an answer."

He shrugged off any criticism of himself or Ferrari that the controversy generated.

"Frankly, I'm not that interested in what the opinion is of me in Germany or elsewhere," Alonso said.

"What I know is that people who see me in the streets hug me and call me gladiator or samurai."