Alonso win under fire

Sauber team boss Peter Sauber has categorically refuted claims a conspiracy was at the heart of yesterday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Swiss team missed out on a historic win by just 2.263 seconds as rising Mexican star Sergio Perez pushed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso all the way to the line at the Sepang International Circuit.

On lap 40 Perez had closed to within 1.3secs, only for the team to not follow Ferrari’s lead and bring him in when the conditions demanded a change from intermediate to dry tyres. Then on lap 50 Perez made an error of his own when he ran wide at turn 14 when he was poised to pass Alonso after again cutting the gap to 0.5 seconds. The theory was, as Sauber are powered by Ferrari engines and Perez remains a product of the Maranello marque’s young driver academy, that the 22-year-old was called to file in behind Alonso.