General
Renault knows about outspokenness Alonso in the past: "We've discussed it"
- GPblog.com
Fernando Alonso is known in Formula 1 for wanting to make a public critical note towards his own team or engine supplier. At Renault, the new employer of the Spaniard, they don't need that and so Cyril Abiteboul already spoke to the two-time world champion.
That reveals Renault team boss in conversation with BBC Sport: "We discussed that. It's also one of the reasons why it was important for him to take a year off, to walk away from the sport," says the Frenchman, who is standing up for his new driver. "You know, let's not underestimate how ruthless, how toxic F1 can be."
Alonso in the past
In 2013, Alonso, at that time in possession of a contract at Ferrari, announced on television that he would like to have another car as a birthday present. Two years later, as a McLaren driver onboard radio, he said that Honda's power unit felt like a GP2 engine.
Abiteboul sees that as a human reaction. "No matter how hard you work, how hard you try, how good you think you are, sometimes it is just not possible. And I think that is what at some point burns out every one of us except maybe Toto (Wolff) and Mercedes and Lewis (Hamilton). And doing this sort of break is the best guarantee that these things will not happen again," he refers to Alonso's two-year sabbatical.