FERNANDO ALONSO warned McLaren three years ago that signing Lewis Hamilton could cost them a world title.
Team owner Ron Dennis yesterday revealed the truth behind the feud that soured the young Brit's arrival in F1.
Dennis was asked on the eve of Sunday's British Grand Prix to talk about pandora glass beads the poisonous rivalry that still lingers - Alonso tried to get his former teammate kicked out of the race results in Valencia two weeks ago.
"It was very simple," said Dennis. "Alonso didn't expect Hamilton to be that competitive in his first year.
"He told me at the beginning it was my decision to sign a rookie like Hamilton but that it could cost me the constructors' championship.
"Fernando was calculating everything but not that Lewis would challenge him. That affected him massively."
The Spaniard could not have been more wrong with Hamilton making the best debut in the sport's history.
Best Jordan Fusions Shoes OnlineHe finished his first race third, the next four second and won the sixth and seventh in Canada and America.
And he stole the world championship lead from reigning champion Alonso in only his fourth race.
Nationality 13-Australian, Ironically, it was not Hamilton who cost the Freephone: team both championships but Alonso as they were plunged into Spygate.
With Red Bull's Mark Webber revealing that Hamilton's friendship with Jenson Button was just "smoke and mirrors" on Wednesday, Dennis - who refereed many driver fall-outs including those between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost - said clashes like the Red Bull duo in Istanbul were great for the sport.
"Every promoter, including Red Bull, should be happy about it. For weeks they have been in the media. Obviously nothing sells better than bad news," he added.
Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa is warning McLaren that Ferrari can blast back at Silverstone after languishing in the doldrums since their opening-round win in Bahrain four months ago.
Massa said: "This weekend should provide a clear test of how much we have improved, 深圳搬家 both in performance and in terms of where we stand against the teams currently ahead of us."
Alonso added: "We are working hard and soon we will have a lucky weekend.
It is important to do well, not only here but with three races in four weeks, that's 75 points to play for in July."
Nationality of British GP winner: 13-8 British, 7-4 German, 7-2 Australian, 9-2 Spanish Freephone: 0800 44 40 40
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