Alonso insists there is no rift at Renault

WHILE Fernando Alonso and his Renault team continue to fend off concerns over divisions in their camp, Michael Schumacher is in buoyant mood ahead of tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The German recorded the third fastest time of the second free practice period yesterday, finishing marginally ahead of world title rival Alonso as the Suzuka track dried out in the final minutes of the session.

“The weather forecast is supposed to steadily improve and that can only be good for us,” said Ferrari man Schumacher.

“The team is in very good spirits, concentrating on our work and everything seems to be going well. As for qualifying, I think we will be fighting Renault for the top places on the grid.”

Alonso’s team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella posted the fastest time of the day in a congested finish to the session which saw Felipe Massa guide his Ferrari around the circuit just seventh-hundredths of a second slower than the Italian.

Schumacher, who can clinch an eighth drivers’ title if he wins on Sunday and Alonso fails to finish in the points, was third, with the Spaniard almost three-tenths of a second further back.

“All we have got is a flavour of the situation and so it is hard to judge,” said Schumacher after running for 10 laps on the Suzuka circuit. “The car and the Bridgestone tyres seem to be behaving well and there were no problems of any sort.”

Honda’s Jenson Button was the next quickest of the regular race drivers, coming in sixth behind his team’s test driver Anthony Davidson and BMW Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel.

Tomorrow’s race will be the last to be held at Suzuka — Honda’s home track — before the Japanese Grand Prix moves to the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway next year.

World champion Fernando Alonso insists the atmosphere within the Renault team — and his relationship with Fisichella — is as good as ever despite his outburst ahead of the grand prix.

Alonso appeared to criticise both Fisichella and Renault on Thursday in the wake of Michael Schumacher’s win at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

However, he claimed yesterday that his comments were taken out of context.

“It’s fantastic. Better than ever,” he said of the mood within the team.

“I think what you didn’t understand yesterday was that I said it was my opinion and my feeling and I said that I understood completely the position of the team and I totally agree.

“I also said that every single person in the team is focused on winning the world championship but no one listened to that.

“We never had any problem and because my opinion and feeling after China was that against probably the team, but not against Fisichella.

“The drivers do what we have to do, what the team said to us to do.”

The pair spoke after Alonso’s comments and Fisichella stressed the relationship remains positive.