It has so far been a rather successful Formula One comeback for Fernando Alonso having embraced a strong season with the newcomers, Alpine Racing; The Spaniard was looking much relaxed in 2021, with hardly any sort of pressure mounting over his head, and most importantly, he was all smiles, something that was missing during his debut stint at McLaren.

Following the intense 2007 challenge against the then-rookie, Lewis Hamilton, it seemed like Alonso grew a tinge of resentment towards the team, thanks to their allegedly biased calls and decisions favoring the British driver.

And since then, Alonso has often received a lot of questions relating to his ‘happiness’ in Formula One, with the media somehow sourcing the reason to be his early McLaren stint. So, how much of this rumor is true?

Well, none, according to the two-time world champion.

What did Fernando Alonso say?

As reported by Motorsport, Alonso admitted that a wrong message sprung out of his one-year McLaren show in 2007 amidst alleged manipulation of fair play with both the team and Hamilton sharing the same nationality.

“I think that since 2007 when I was fighting with Hamilton in a team that was British, with a British environment, a wrong message was given that people perceived and spread about me: that’s why since 2007, everyone is surprised at how well I have been. I feel and how happy I am,” he said.

“So I think in general I did not change much. I am happy today, but I do not think I have not been in recent seasons.”

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Did Alonso leave McLaren unhappy in 2018?

To many, it looked like Alonso was yet again displeased with his second McLaren F1 stint. The performance was on the decline as the car gradually ended up at the back of the grid.

And hardly a couple of years later, the Spaniard called it quits with the sport itself, which led to many wondering if McLaren played a crucial role in his call for the brief retirement. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the truth. Instead, Alonso revealed that he was ‘tired’ of racing in F1 and wanted to explore other corners of motorsport.

“That’s why I left Formula 1 because I had other things on my mind. But I was still enjoying it and I had a fantastic season in 2018 too. With Zak Brown, I remember we planned to race in the Indy 500 in 2017, and then with Stoffel Vandoorne. we had a fantastic relationship in 2018,” he concluded.

Overall, Alonso doesn’t seem to carry any kind of unresolved issues with McLaren despite the two bitter stints. So, will the ever-existing rumors surrounding Alonso and Hamilton finally come to an end?

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