Alonso feels Renault deserted him in China

However, the Spaniard denied there was a rift between himself and the team after the Shanghai event, where Alonso lost the championship lead for the first time this season, after losing a sure win through tyre problems and an error in his second pitstop.

"It is not a problem at all with anybody," Alonso said in Suzuka today. "What I felt [in China] was that maybe I had a problem with the car, which was a specific problem for ten or nine laps, and I felt alone, for sure.

"I was first and my teammate was second, but then they (Giancarlo Fisichella and Michael Schumacher) caught up with me and then they were gone. They came to me, they overtook me, and they were gone. After I recovered the pace, they were too far.

"For sure, it is like you are in the Tour de France in the mountain, you have a puncture, and your team and your rival go uphill and don't stop. That was a little bit difficult to understand."

Alonso said he was specifically unhappy to have to fight with his Renault teammate for position.

"I fought Fisichella in the last corner, I overtook him once, he overtook me and I overtook him again. These risky moments, with three races to go in the championship, with your teammate is not good enough.

"I think the team do the maximum they can," added Alonso when asked if he had the full support of his team. "They have given me a fantastic car, winning the championship last year and fighting this year.

"So therefore what the team does in every race is unbelievable, to be equal in the drivers' championship and equal in the constructors'.

"For sure the team is giving us a fantastic car, but for sure in some occasions in a different view or a different approach I have felt a little alone.

"I had difficult moments in Indy, when I was not competitive, and in China I was off the pace for about ten laps and losing four seconds a lap. In these two moments, my opinion is that with the team maybe I should have had more help."

And although he says he has the full support from Renault, Alonso, leaving for McLaren at the end of the season, reckons the French squad's main priority is in winning the constructors' championship.

"All the team and all the people are really focused for the championship. We have been leading both championships all season, and for these last races all the people are motivated.

"The atmosphere in the team is super. Every single person in the team is just focused on the championship.

"But for sure for the team it is more important the constructors' (title)."