Focused Alonso is fastest in Monza
McLaren’s drivers — including Lewis Hamilton and tester Pedro de la Rosa — last week received letters from world governing body, the FIA, urging them to supply any relevant information.
The FIA has been made aware of an allegation that one or more McLaren drivers may be in possession, or recently been in possession, of written evidence relating to the investigation.
It has been reported the “evidence” relates to an e-mail exchange between Alonso and de la Rosa, a claim the reigning world champion has insisted is “a lie”.
Alonso certainly put the matter to one side as he posted a time of one minute 22.386secs in the afternoon 90-minute practice session.
That was just 0.060secs quicker than the best time in the morning run of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso, though, had a misfire problem in the first session that restricted his time on track to just 12 laps.
But he more than made up for that in the second session at a time when the majority of the cars ran heavier fuel loads.
That was noted by the fact Hamilton was second fastest in the afternoon, but over 0.8secs adrift, while the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Raikkonen were down in sixth and eighth places.
Giancarlo Fisichella was third quickest in the second session for Renault, followed by the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg of Williams, then Massa, with Nick Heidfeld ahead of Raikkonen.
The top 10 was completed by Heikki Kovalainen and Alexander Wurz for Renault and Williams respectively.
Alonso insists he remains unaffected by the rumours he is embroiled in the spying controversy.
In the letter from FIA president Max Mosley, the McLaren trio have been told they will not be punished should they come forward with information.
However, they have also been informed that should they be found to be withholding information, “serious consequences could follow”.
Despite the threat, when asked whether this latest twist in the furore had affected the team’s work, reigning world champion Alonso replied: “Not at all.
“We are in their fighting so close with the Ferraris for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
“It’s not too difficult to concentrate on the grand prix because we love winning races, and we are here to win every weekend.”
Alonso also dismissed claims the revelations were a deliberate attempt to distract McLaren at a crucial stage in the season.
“I don’t think so,” he added Alonso.
“At the end of the day we are here to win for us and the team, to do our best, to drive the best way we can.
“I feel quite confident for this race, the car seems good and I am fully motivated, so everything is going according to plan.”
Trailing Hamilton in the drivers’ standings with five grands prix remaining, the 26-year-old believes he has to be perfect from now until the end of the season.
“When you are in front you always control the situation better and you are a bit more confident because you can make a mistake — or the race can be bad and nothing happens,” added Alonso.
“When you are behind it’s a bit more difficult. You cannot have a DNF (did not finish) or make a mistake because the gap is too much.
“For sure it’s much better to be at the front, but it’s not the case for me at the moment, so I need the last five races to be perfect.”
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