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Mark Hughes: F1's Inside Line

"This is a battlefield, not an etiquette finishing school"

Autosport Magazine Sep 26, 2007, 2:56 PM

Spa was a tougher weekend for Fernando Alonso off-track than on. With his role in the revelation of the 'new evidence' in the spy case being made public, he was portrayed as the 'blackmailer' of the team and his position within it claimed by observers to be 'untenable'. The reality is rather different.

Seeing him as a blackmailer is a perspective from outside the sport. He's not a conventional employee in a conventional business. He's a sportsman fighting his team-mate for the sport's biggest prize. There are rules of combat, and they are very different from those of the outside world. As Ron Dennis said at the weekend, all families bicker. "We are fighting for the world championship," he reminded everyone, "not having a bloody love-in."