Madrid: Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso claimed on Monday he had no problems with British teammate Lewis Hamilton during their contentious time together at McLaren.

“There is always a lot of talk about him and this antagonism was created but there was never any problem,” he told daily newspaper El Pais. Alonso has rejoined Renault after spending a season with McLaren that was marked by media speculation of a feud between the two drivers, and accusations that the team favoured Hamilton.

Hamilton controversially won the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix after Alonso was dropped from pole for holding up his teammate during qualifying. The world champion was demoted five grid places after a stewards’ investigation ruled Alonso had been wrong to wait in front of Hamilton in the pits for 30 seconds ahead of the pair’s final qualifying runs.

“People talk about Hungary, of the pit-stop, but it was not his fault. It was the team that should have taken steps and if I was supposed to leave first and make an extra round to burn more gas they should have made sure that things would be that way. But they weren’t interested in all that,” Alonso added.

The Spaniard, who won back-toback world championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and came close last year with McLaren, has hinted at leaving the French side if it does not perform well this season.

“My first option is to stay at Renault if we succeed in creating a winning car and the truth is we are making progress,” he said. “But what I want is to race in a car that can give me victories. There are several, Williams, Toyota, BMW and Ferrari that are always on top no matter what happens.”

After a disappointing start to the season, Renault has been experimenting with changes to its R28 car, aimed at improving its aerodynamic set-up.

Last month Alonso finished in fourth place behind Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix. How many races has Rubens raced?

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello will celebrate his record 257th F1 Grand Prix in Turkey next month, despite disagreement on how many races he has actually started. Barrichello, 35, made his F1 debut with now-defunct Jordan at the 1993 South African GP and is now in his 16th season. By his reckoning, the Brazilian will equal Italian Riccardo Patrese’s record of 256 starts — set between 1977 and 1993 — in Sunday’s Spanish GP at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

However, the Grand Prix Guide, an annual compiled by F1 statistician Jacques Deschenaux, put Barrichello’s tally at 250 races at the start of the 2008 season — a figure that would make the race in Istanbul only his 255th. That tally does not include the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, which Barrichello missed after crashing heavily on the Friday.

The 2002 Spanish and French GP, which the Brazilian qualified for but did not compete in after problems before the formation lap, were also not included in the guide.

Source : DNA