Ferrari have admitted that Fernando Alonso has
been admonished
by the company's president.
The team said Luca Di Montezemolo phoned the driver on
Monday to wish him a happy birthday but also "tweaked his ear" for his
"latest comments".
Ferrari have not revealed which remarks by Alonso, 32, upset Di Montezemolo.
But when he was asked what birthday present he would like after finishing fifth in
Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix,
Alonso replied: "Someone else's car."
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A Ferrari statement said Alonso was reminded by Di
Montezemolo that "all the great champions who have driven for Ferrari
have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own.
"This is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and
show humility and determination in making one's own contribution,
standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside
it."
The statement said Di Montezemolo was referring to
Alonso when he told the team in a meeting on Monday that "there is a
need to close ranks, without giving in to rash outbursts that, while
understandable in the immediate aftermath of a bad result, are no use to
anyone".
It is highly unusual for Ferrari to reveal its internal
dealings in such a manner and it emphasises Di Montezemolo's strength
of feeling about the situation.
The statement comes after a day after it emerged
Alonso's manager had had a meeting with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner
over the Hungarian GP weekend.
Sources say Alonso's manager, Luiz Garcia Abad, told
Horner that the Spaniard was potentially available to partner Sebastian
Vettel at Red Bull next year and would like the opportunity to do so.
Alonso, who lies third in the
drivers' championship, 39 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel,
insisted after the race that he was "very happy" at Ferrari.
Asked whether his representative had approached Red Bull, Alonso said: "I don't think so. Not that I know."
Abad told BBC Sport there had been "no discussions" with Horner.
The Ferrari statement will do little to quell the impression that all is not well between Ferrari and their star driver.
Sources close to Ferrari say the team are not entirely
convinced Alonso always gets the best out the car in qualifying, while
those close to Alonso say he feels he is constantly having to push to
the absolute maximum to make up for an uncompetitive car.
Ferrari's admission that Di Montezemolo was unhappy with Alonso's public behaviour came on the same day that the team
confirmed the signing of former Lotus technical director James Allison
to lead their design department.
Allison's appointment as technical director chassis has
seen the former occupant of that role, Pat Fry, moved to a new job as
director of engineering.
Allison, who is one of F1's most highly regarded design engineers, joined Ferrari with the explicit approval of Alonso.
The two worked together at Renault when Alonso won his
back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, when Allison was deputy technical
director.
Prior to that, he worked at Ferrari for five years
during the early 2000s, when they dominated the sport with Michael
Schumacher.
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