Fernando Alonso is well known to be the diva of the Formula 1 world, with the Spaniard being famously difficult to please and quick to voice his discontent when things do not go his way.
The 41-year-old, who will be joining Aston Martin in 2023, has become known for his games and tactics, infamously refusing to exit his pit box during qualifying in an effort to prevent his teammate Lewis Hamilton from securing pole position back when the pair were teammates.
Jenson Button has now revealed that Alonso was no different during his time working with the Spaniard in 2015 and 2016 with McLaren in an interview with Nico Rosberg.
The pair struggled to compete for points in the Honda powered McLaren, which left the pair to essentially just race each other at a lot of race weekends, and Button has now revealed some of the shocking tactics that Alonso would use to get the better of him.
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“Fernando would play games a lot more, which in a way, I was at a point in my career where I was kind of up for games,” explained Button.
“We weren’t fighting anyone else. We were so slow that we were fighting against each other and we would play games, some of which I don’t want to go into too much.
“If he was behind me, he’d say ‘there was a problem with the car’ and retire from the race!
“We weren’t scoring points, so he was saving the car for the next race, but he’d say ‘there’s a problem, there’s a problem!’
“[The team] would say ‘no Fernando, there is no problem. Keep driving’.”
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Button’s claims come as a shocking revelation, as a driver choosing to fake a mechanical failure just because he was losing a race does not reflect well on them at all.
It is also worth noting that Button claimed that there were a plethora of examples of similar games, but refused to share any more stories with Rosberg, possibly because the examples he had in mind would reflect even worse on his former teammate.
Aston Martin claim that they are aware of Alonso’s reputation of becoming somewhat of a toxic presence when he is not happy with what the team can provide him, but believe that an open and honest relationship about the team’s capabilities is key to maintaining a health work environment.