Dennis rejects team orders jibe

Lewis Hamilton was not favoured by McLaren when the former world champion Fernando Alonso was his team- mate, says Ron Dennis.

Fernando Alonso, left, and McLaren boss Ron Dennis did not see eye to eye during the Spaniard's year with the team.

BUDAPEST // Lewis Hamilton was not favoured by McLaren when the former world champion Fernando Alonso was his team- mate, team boss Ron Dennis has repeated, one year after the Spaniard's claims of favouritism led to his leaving the team. Alonso, 27, and now with Renault, partnered Hamilton last season until a bitter fallout with the British team after he said at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix the team favoured the Briton.

He said this week that he would not have been given a competitive drive this season if he had stayed. "Fernando's opinion is his opinion but what I would say is that you can't see any strings leading to Heikki's shoulders or anyone's hands up his back," Dennis said. "He's an honest guy and I think he will more than convince anyone who talks to him that this is a team absolutely committed to equality and it always has been.

"You can go back through the entire history of McLaren and talk to any driver who's driven for us and you will not find anyone - save for one - who will not verify that." Dennis said Hamilton and his teammate Heikki Kovalainen, who are on the front of the grid, were treated as equals. So-called "team orders", where one driver is told to assist his teammate, are banned in Formula One but the ban's effectiveness was questioned again when Kovalainen, who won yesterday in Hungary, let Lewis pass him at last month's German Grand Prix.

"People point to the last grand prix and say there were team orders because it was clear Heikki moved over," said Dennis. "Throughout the race Lewis was nearly seven tenths of a second faster. Heikki knew that and he was told that - but he was not told to let Lewis pass." Alonso, yet to reach the podium since rejoining Renault, had claimed he was still happy with his decision to quit McLaren. "I knew this year it would not be possible to fight for the championship," he said. "But if I was racing for McLaren at this moment maybe I would be in the position I am now - without the possibility to win.

"I am happy to be with Renault, with the full support of the team and knowing everybody is working night and day to give me the best car possible." * Reuters