Fernando Alonso says the public rebuke he earned from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo at the start of the summer break was due to a misunderstanding that has now been resolved.
A Ferrari statement after the Hungarian Grand Prix said that di Montezemolo "tweaked [Alonso's] ear" following a weekend in which the two-time Formula 1 champion had joked to Italian television reporters that he wanted a car as competitive as his rivals' for his birthday.
"I think it was wrong information coming to the president," Alonso said at Spa on Thursday.
"We looked back to all the press conferences - these days with recorders etc it's easy to check exactly what you say - and it was nothing different to any other grand prix and I tried to push for the best for the team and for our performance.
"He is the father of this family, of Ferrari, he is a great motivator. He told us exactly what he expects from us and what he wants from us."
It also emerged in Hungary that Red Bull was considering Alonso as a potential driver for 2014. Alonso confirmed that he intended to stay at Ferrari and denied that di Montezemolo questioned him about his intentions.
"I think the president is a very intelligent man to separate what is rumour and what can be true," Alonso said.
"We have both been in F1 for many years now and we know what the summer break means in terms of rumours so there were never questions."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109374