Formula One rookie Lewis Hamilton has fanned the flames of his row with teammate Fernando Alonso by claiming that McLaren would prefer him to win the world championship.
Spaniard Alonso's future at McLaren has been openly questioned recently after it emerged that his relationship with team principal Ron Dennis has broken down to the point where they have not spoken for months.
Evidence provided by Alonso was pivotal in last month's FIA "spygate" hearing, at which McLaren was fined US$100 million and thrown out of the constructors' championship.
Hamilton believes that Alonso's conduct has lost him respect within the McLaren garage and the 22-year-old now believes that he commands greater support within the team.
"When you are in a relationship with a certain amount of people, you do the best job you can and want to show to everyone that you are the one for the team," Hamilton said.
"In this situation, I was a rookie and he was the two-time world champion coming into the team. He is the one that was looked at to bring it home, but eventually I have earned more respect from them," he said.
"And since what's gone on in the last few weeks they've realized who the real people are in the team and who they really should back," Hamilton said, "I feel my bond with the team is even stronger."
Hamilton admits that he has been forced to change his opinion of Alonso, the man he has watched and admired over the past few years.
"You try to understand these people but then the whole idea of what sort of person they are is completely miles out of the ball park," he said. "He is not the person I imagined him to be, but that's the way it is."
Since Hamilton emerged as a genuine title rival, Alonso has repeatedly complained that he has been treated unfairly and that Hamilton has been given advantages.
Hamilton, though, believes that since he was denied the chance to compete with Alonso for victory in Monaco back in May, McLaren have treated both drivers with an even hand.
"I want to win it [the title] fair and square. Not once have I approached the team members and asked to be favored. It is just not something I have done at any team, asking for better equipment," Hamilton said.
"After Monaco they didn't know what to do with the strategy so they made us equal and gave us equal fuel loads and whoever outqualifies the other has done the better job," he said.
Meanwhile, Ferrari and McLaren dominated practice yesterday for the Japanese Grand Prix -- the first to be held at Fuji Speedway in 30 years.
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa drove their Ferraris to the top of qualifying during early practice, only to be overtaken by feuding McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the afternoon.
Fuji Speedway replaces the venue at Suzuka, whose contract ended last year. Fuji has not hosted a Formula One race since 1977 and has been renovated to prepare for the modern version of the sport -- but is proving a tough challenge for the drivers.
In the morning, Raikkonen and Massa, who were 1-2 in the last race in Belgium, picked up where they left off with the top times. Raikkonen clocked 1 minute 19.119 seconds while Massa came in at 1:19.498.
"It's obviously always a challenge to get to know a new track," Hamilton said. "But I have tried that three times this year."
Alonso and Hamilton were third and fourth. Alonso was at 1:19.667 with Hamilton at 1:19.807.
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