Contrite Alonso backs down on 'manipulation' claim

Fernando Alonso says he is no longer angry after reacting furiously to the outcome of Sunday's European grand prix.

Insiders suggested the Ferrari driver had risked sanctions for questioning the actions of the FIA stewards in applying a drive-through penalty long after Lewis Hamilton overtook the safety car in Valencia.

"On Sunday evening, I was very angry about everything that happened, but now that anger has been transformed into positive energy driving a desire to fight back," he wrote in a diary entry posted on the team's official website.

His calmer comments are being viewed by some headline writers as an 'apology' to the FIA.

Writing in a Telegraph blog, correspondent Tom Cary said it might be the result of a "behind-closed-doors deal with the FIA in return for the governing body taking no action" against Alonso and the equally angry Italian team.