McLaren Not Worried about Alonso's Outburst

Fernando Alonso's outburst at the FIA stewards after the race in Valencia may have rubbed some people the wrong way, but those kind of actions are sometimes just what the sport needs in order to spoil the fans a little bit. And it's not us talking, but the very rival of Ferrari's team, McLaren Mercedes' team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

Following Alonso's outspoken frustrations, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) did not backfire on either the Spaniard or his Ferrari team – who have also questioned the stewards' decisions in the European Grand Prix – preferring to let them cool off. And that strategy worked partially, as the 2-time world champion came out and apologized for his negative comments a few days later.

According to Whitmarsh, that's one aspect of Jean Todt's policy that he agrees upon, as F1 needs to let its players contest the “referee's decisions” every once in a while without being afraid of potential penalties.

“In the past you have not been able to question. There has to be a limit, some fine lines, but not being able to question a referee's decisions, or umpire's decisions or stewards' decision? Frankly, you have not been able to do that,” said Whitmarsh, who is also heading the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), in an interview with AFP.

“Alonso was fairly outspoken but actually people want a bit of that,” he added while at a fans' forum in London, on Thursday. Also, he made it very clear that Alonso's outburst did not worry him one bit and that these kind of reactions will not trigger any hostility between the team he's managing and rivals Ferrari.