Montoya: I feel sorry for Alonso

As the extent of the troubled relationship between Alonso and team boss Ron Dennis was made public this week in transcripts of the recent FIA spy hearing, Montoya has said he is not surprised that Alonso's time at McLaren has not worked out.

In an interview with news agency the Associated Press, Montoya said: "Fernando is a nice guy, but he was the No. 1 at Renault and he was used to winning and getting everything.

"Then he went to McLaren, and when (wife) Connie and I heard that Lewis was going to be his teammate, we said 'Oh my God.'

"We immediately felt sorry for Fernando because Lewis is Ron's baby. Ron paid his whole career, so Ron wants him to win and not Fernando. He would rather see Lewis win, who is like his own child to Ron. Fernando is nothing to him."

Montoya says there are similarities between the way that his and Alonso's relationship with Dennis panned out. And he thinks it is mostly to do with the way that Dennis likes to keep control over all aspects of the team.

"Ron, outside the work environment, is a great guy," Montoya said. "But he's two different guys. The guy who I signed with and played golf with, he just didn't exist in the office. He was just a different person, you wouldn't even recognize him.

"He wants to control everything, and I think Fernando is (angry) about that because he is not used to someone controlling everything and did not like that Ron was like that. I think Ron is used to drivers who don't say anything back.

"They are very quiet and very nice and do what everyone says, and I came along and he didn't like that. Now I guess Fernando is the same way."

When asked whether or not he believed Alonso was lured to McLaren expecting things to be different, Montoya said: "He thought he was going to come in and be No. 1, and he's just not.

"They try to make them be equal, but Lewis is genuinely a really fast driver. And apart from being really fast, he's Ron's favourite. It's just the truth, and it makes it bad for Fernando."