McLaren engineer claims Fernando Alonso gave Nürburgring team €1,000

11:40, 12 Oct
Updated: 12:35, 12 Oct
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A former McLaren engineer claimed that Fernando Alonso gave each crew member on his 2007 Nürburgring team €1,000 after a successful race.

"I liked Fernando a lot and I liked working with him. He was a good guy."
- Mark Slade

Mark Slade, a former McLaren engineer, told Marca that the F1 World Champion gifted each crew member on his Nürburgring team an envelope of cash.

He shared that Alonso asked for a list of every member of the team to share the race winnings with after a successful run around the German circuit.

Slade said: "At the Nürburgring in 2007, on the first day, Fernando came up to me and said, ‘Can you give me a list of everyone working on my car?’

"So, anyway, I made a list that I thought was okay, as best I could, including the petrol guy, the fuel guy, and the tyre guy.

"But I didn’t know what it was for, so we already have it ready and in the end I said, ‘Here’s the list.'

"A while later, he came back in the morning and said, ‘Could you have these guys on the list meet me at the back?’"

alonso-sgp
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in the paddock - Photo: Race Pictures

Alonso told Slade that he "used to like to share my winnings with my guys in the car.

"It's not something I've done at McLaren so far, but it's something I like to show my appreciation for being in my car and doing such a good job."

The two-time F1 World Champion supposedly split his race winnings across the entire crew, but the sporting directors did not approve.

Slade claimed that the sporting director forced the crew members to give the money back to the team, otherwise they would be fired.

Slade continued: “I think this showed the incompatibility between Fernando and McLaren… I liked Fernando a lot, and I liked working with him. He was a good guy.”

This put a wedge in an already unstable relationship between the World Champion and McLaren, and Alonso left the Woking-based team the following year.

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