’Nothing bad’ about 2021 finale - Alonso

Fernando Alonso has played down the ongoing drama surrounding the way last year’s championship finale played out.

When asked if he agrees that his former nemesis was "robbed" of his eighth title by the ousted Michael Masi’s controversial decision, the 40-year-old insisted: "No.

"Everyone has their own opinion but it was a normal race for me," Alonso told RTL.

"Yes, there was this one decision, but nobody can control whether there is a safety car or not."

The FIA has reacted by ousting Australian Masi and implementing other changes like a football-style Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

But two-time world champion Alonso says "you can never please everyone".

"It was a big deal because it was the last race of the season," the Alpine driver added.

"But in 20 years something like that happened 200 times. 200 times to me, 200 times to Michael, 200 times to Montoya, 200 times to everyone. If it happens in the third of fifth race, it’s no big deal.

"This time it was the last race with two laps to go, but for me? Not a big deal."

However, he doesn’t condemn new FIA president bin Sulayem from reacting.

"The new president needs to make sure everything is in place. He understood that we needed new ideas and I’m happy about that.

"But on Abu Dhabi, maybe I have a different opinion. I don’t think anything bad happened there."