Alonso Trusted Renault Completely in Singapore

Fernando Alonso told the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on Monday that he fully trusted his team during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and did not question at any time their decision to call him to the pits so early. The Spaniard was questioned by the FIA president Max Mosley on the matter and insisted nothing seemed strange to him at the time of the race.

Earlier this month, triple world champion Nelson Piquet accused the Spaniard of knowing all about Renault's plan during that Sunday. Although not properly stating it, the Brazilian said he finds it close to impossible to believe that someone of Alonso's intelligence would not find Renault's strategy at least a bit odd.

The same rhetorical question was asked by Mosley during the Paris meeting earlier this week, but Alonso stood by his argument and also explained why the early pit stop didn't ring a bell to him.

“Not really, because we had a fuel pump problem in qualifying on Saturday. I qualified 15th with more or less good pace, in a good car that weekend. We know if you have the same strategy as the others around you, and you are in position 13 or 14, it will be difficult to overtake them,” said Alonso.

“So the team chose a strategy that was different. I was not really worried about anything. It was an aggressive one (strategy), and I was ready for it.”

“About the strategy, I completely believe and trust the engineers, who normally have a lot of computer simulations which tell you the optimum lap to stop. Sometimes it's short fuel, sometimes long fuel, but I completely trust them,” added the 2-time world champion.

According to the transcripts from the FIA – issued shortly after the verdict was announced – Alonso's questioning lasted about two minutes.