Felipe Massa hits out at Alonso's 'two faces'

Feb.19 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is a Formula 1 driver and person with “two faces,” according to his former teammate Felipe Massa.

Now-retired Brazilian Massa told Relevo that he is “not giving up” in his legal pursuit against the sport to rectify the outcome of the crash-gate marred 2008 championship.

In that year, prior to Alonso joining Ferrari, the Spaniard won the Singapore GP after Renault plotted a perfectly-timed safety car triggered by teammate Nelson Piquet’s deliberate crash.

“Incredible driver,” said Massa when asked about Alonso. “One of the greatest phenomena in F1, without a doubt.

“That doesn’t take away from what I think of him regarding the 2008 incident,” he added. “Fernando didn’t behave well.

“He never spoke about the subject, and it’s a shame because his greatness as a driver doesn’t correspond to how he acted there. He said he didn’t know anything – but he hid everything.

“This is not acceptable, because we’re talking about a great man at a sporting level.”

However, 43-year-old Massa says he had a decent relationship with Alonso during their time together at Maranello.

“I never had a problem with Fernando,” he said. “But he always had two faces – two personalities. One that he showed, one that he brought out behind closed doors.

“He was only focused on himself. In 2010 he had a great championship, he deserved to win, but he lost it perhaps due to a mistake in strategy. He lost two world championships in the last race and I think everything happens for a reason,” Massa added.

“Nothing is by chance in our lives.”

Alonso, who like Massa is also 43, is now at Aston Martin, where from early March the great Adrian Newey will arrive to start working on the 2026 project.

When asked how quickly Newey can have an impact on performance, Alonso said on Tuesday: “Adrian is going to be a free spirit. You can’t tell him what to do.

“The day he arrives, if he can give us a hand in 2025, fine. If he wants to work only on 2026, fine too. Because then he has clear ideas and doesn’t want to waste a single day.

“I asked Lawrence (Stroll) this several times and he always tells me that he doesn’t think we can control him.”