Honda ‘not happy with Alonso’s attitude’

Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa has said there are people within the team who have not been impressed with Fernando Alonso’s attitude – but he can personally understand his frustrations.

The Spaniard has been very vocal about Honda’s inability to deliver a good engine and constant reliability issues has lead to frequent radio messages which have been less than complimentary to say the least.

McLaren have since opted to part ways with Honda at the end of the season and join forces with Renault instead, a decision that has no doubt persuaded Alonso to extend his stay with the team into next year.

“Alonso always came to put pressure on me,” Hasegawa told Spain’s El Confidencial.

“If the car was going badly, he had no qualms about telling me he was not happy. He’s a good person, he probably felt very ashamed of having to scold me but he had to do it.

“After all, he wanted everything to be all right, that’s why I’m so ashamed.”

But Hasegawa can understand his anger and has taken no offence from his comments about Honda.

“No, not at all. Alonso criticised us because he was not satisfied, he had every right to do it,” he added.

“Obviously, there are people at Honda who were not happy with Alonso’s attitude. But for me it was not a problem.

“From a professional point of view, there have been many problems because he was never happy and it is very difficult to establish a good working relationship.

“The drivers, after all, are very emotional guys and you have to understand them when they behave like that. If we had the best car, would not Alonso be happy?”

“Yes, that’s why we can not complain.”

Hasegawa, who has been under immense pressure as the one of the main figureheads of Honda, is expected to oversee operations as the Japanese manufacturer link up with Toro Rosso next season.