Alonso backs Button after Barcelona criticism

Fernando Alonso has defended his teammate Jenson Button, after the British driver let his positivity slip after the Spanish Grand Prix.

McLaren-Honda’s drivers and team management have been the epitome of positive energy so far in 2015, despite their disastrous level of performance and reliability.

But after the Barcelona race, Button admitted it had been the “scariest” grand prix of his life due to the evil handling of his MP4-30.

“After today I don’t expect points at all this year,” he said.

It was the very first sign of public negativity from the ‘graphite grey’-coloured camp in 2015, but Spaniard Alonso said his teammate should be forgiven.

“It was a tough race for us,” he told Spanish media on Monday. “Since February, we have sent a thousand positive messages, and yesterday he gave a small negative phrase that had a lot of impact. So we need to understand that.”

“For both of us it was a hard, uncomfortable race but then in the team meeting Jenson was much more constructive in his views,” he insisted.

Alonso might also be forgiven for expressing his frustration five races into 2015, particularly as he could have been racing Ferrari’s resurgent car this year.

But the 33-year-old insists he still has no regrets about leaving Ferrari, as he believes beating the likes of Mercedes requires a project like McLaren-Honda’s.

“To beat them (Mercedes), you need to take an innovative and aggressive approach because their advantage is great,” said Alonso.

“Mercedes is still winning everything except the race (Malaysia) won by Ferrari due to the circumstances,” he added. “So we decided to go this way, but it needs time.”

As for Button’s claim that McLaren may go the entire season without a single point, Alonso said he doesn’t necessarily agree.

But he also said: “To me, in this part of my career, to be sixth or seventh in a race doesn’t change my life. What matters is to win, I just want to win, and for that you need a solid long-term plan.

“Do I miss fighting for wins? Of course I do, but I have to live with that for now.

“I’ve been here (in F1) for years, in December of last year I was voted the best driver of the decade, so I am missing a trophy or two at home but I have other more satisfying recognition,” Alonso added.