Fisichella: Alonso and I had an optimal relationship

Alonso has tended to try to dominate and marginalise his teammates while manipulating teams to focus on his own needs, his time with Felipe Massa at Ferrari springs to mind as one of the Spaniard's most ruthless hatchet jobs.

But Giancarlo Fisichella, Alonso's teammate at Renault in 2005 and 2006, refutes the prevailing opinion when he told El Mundo Deportivo, "We shared two very good years together. There was an atmosphere in the team that I had never encountered before."

"We were friends and we got along very well. Together we won everything. We had an optimal relationship and friendship. Sometimes an hour before the races we played cards," recalled the 45-year-old.

This contrasted to Massa's experience with the Spaniard at Ferrari, the Brazilian recalled, "Outside of the race car, I had zero problems with Fernando, but when he pulls down his visor, he becomes another person and he can split a team. We saw that in many racing teams he drove for.”

But Fisichella, who watched Alonso rack up two world titles in their spell together at Renault, did not relate and said of Massa's comments, "I say that for me it was not like that."

History shows that in 2007 Fisichella stayed at Renault while Alonso made his ill-fated move to the Ron Dennis led McLaren team where he came up against bright young rookie Lewis Hamilton. It was war, the battles etched in the sport's folklore and the massive fallout afterwards well documented.

As for advice to Alonso, in the light of his decision to quit F1 at the end of the year, Fisichella said, "Driving a winning F1 car like a Mercedes or a Ferrari, would be fun. Driving a McLaren like the one Fernando drives, which battles for sixth, seventh or eighth, does not make sense."

"I would tell him to continue doing what he knows best. He has achieved so much and I wish him all the luck for the future," added Fisichella who had a 13-year spell in the top flight, driving for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and briefly for Ferrari.

He scored three wins in 229 starts before quitting F1 after the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after which he remained a Ferrari reserve and test driver. He was reunited and again worked with Alonso when the Spaniard joined the Scuderia in 2010.

Fisichella has for several years been a regular competitor in GT racing with Ferrari affiliated teams, winning the Le Mans 24-Hours GTE-Pro Class in 2012 and 2014 with AF Corse.

He is currently competing in the WEC championship in the GTE-Am Class in the Spirit of Race Ferrari team, while Alonso does duty in the LMP1 Class with Toyota Gazoo Racing.