Alonso to leave by the end of the season ...

FERNANDO ALONSO has been informed by Ron Dennis, the McLaren Mercedes principal, that he can leave the team at the end of the season.
The Formula One rumour mill is in full flow over the future of Alonso, after his role in the vain attempt to prevent Lewis Hamilton, his team-mate, from taking pole position during qualifying for last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
A source said yesterday: "My understanding is that he's been told he can go because they're so fed up with him. Ron is just very pissed off with both of them (Alonso and Hamilton)."

Alonso, who is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2009 on a salary of about pound stg. 10million ($23.6m) a year, has indicated in remarks to the Spanish media that his future at McLaren is in doubt, as have key advisers in his entourage.

Even before the row over the attempt to delay Hamilton, sources close to the Spanish driver were making it clear that he was unhappy at the team and was dismayed at what he regards as McLaren reneging on their initial deal to make him the lead driver. The prospect of Alonso leaving McLaren has encouraged speculation in the paddock about where the double world champion may go.

Among the possibilities are a move to Ferrari, at the expense of Felipe Massa; a return to Renault, where he would probably replace Giancarlo Fisichella, his former team-mate; or a switch to BMW Sauber or even Toyota. Dennis acknowledged in Budapest on Sunday that Alonso's future was the subject of serious discussion in rival teams. "There is an inevitability that these things are rumoured and discussed," Dennis said. But the embattled McLaren principal was, at that stage, hoping that Alonso would fulfil his contract. "We have two drivers who are contracted for several years into the future," he said. "We will respect our part of the bargain - we hope that the drivers respect theirs, because that's what a contract is about." The long-held McLaren tradition of allowing its two drivers to fight it out for supremacy on the track, which Alonso dislikes, is not going to change, Dennis said.

"We will continue to function as a grand prix team with specific values and if anybody does not want to be part of those values - irrespective of where they sit in the organisation - ultimately they will have a choice," he said. "But we will not deviate away from our values."

McLaren has yet to decide whether to pursue its appeal against the decision by the stewards to withdraw constructors' points in Hungary as part of the punishment handed to the team over the infamous orchestrated pit stop during qualifying although indications are that it probably will not.

The penalty handed to Alonso over the affair that demoted him from pole position to sixth on the grid was met with outrage by the popular Asturian driver's fans in Spain, who have the support of the RFEA, the Spanish motorsport federation.

"We want to publicly show our support and absolute trust in Fernando Alonso, who has shown his professionalism and honesty during his successful sporting career," the organisation said.