Alonso - I'll help Massa

Alonso: Helping hand

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Fernando Alonso has vowed to help Felipe Massa beat his former McLaren Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to this year's World Championship.

Animosity developed between Spaniard and Englishman last year after Alonso, who had arrived at McLaren having taken back-to-back World titles with Renault, demanded preferential treatment over then rookie Hamilton.

Having also fallen out with senior team personnel at McLaren, Alonso left after just one season and returned to Renault, for whom he won Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix to follow up his Singapore success a fortnight earlier.

But, although his largely frustrating year has left Alonso well out of Championship contention, he still intends to play a role in the title's destiny should the opportunity arise.

"Yes, no doubt, if I can help, I will help Massa," Alonso told the AS newspaper.

Mistakes

Alonso also expressed the opinion that the main protagonists in this year's title race had made too many mistakes and added that the winner will be the one who makes the fewest number in the Championship run-in.

"They have lost a lot of points," he added. "After 16 races the leader has 84 points. In 2006 I had 82 in nine races.

"In this Championship the drivers who are up there have scored few points. But in the end the one who makes the least errors will win. We'll see."

With a total of 20 points still to contest over the season's two remaining races, Hamilton holds a five-point advantage over Massa.