Fernando Alonso and the 2007 McLaren ‘cash envelopes’ controversy: former engineer reveals details

The ‘derby’ with Hamilton

In the long and illustrious career of Fernando Alonso in Formula 1, the 2007 season remains one of the most discussed and controversial. Having joined McLaren from Renault as the reigning two-time world champion, the Asturian driver faced rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton, sparking one of the fiercest intra-team rivalries in F1 history. The season ultimately ended with Alonso and Hamilton finishing the championship equal on points, just one point behind the eventual world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who managed to beat both McLaren drivers behind the wheel of his Ferrari.

That season, also marked by the infamous McLaren spy story involving Ferrari, generated numerous anecdotes. One of the most talked-about involved Fernando Alonso himself, recently confirmed by his race engineer at the time, Mark Slade, during an interview on journalist Peter Windsor’s podcast. The story centers on the so-called ‘cash envelopes’ Fernando Alonso handed to his mechanics throughout the season as a way to reward and ‘retain’ them. Slade shared his account of the events, defending Fernando Alonso’s intentions at least in part, which took place during the Nürburgring weekend.

An unexpected ‘bonus’

“On Thursday, Fernando came to me and asked if I could provide a list of everyone working on his car,” Slade recalled. “It’s not easy to pinpoint exactly who works on a single car because there are so many different roles, but I prepared the list as best I could. At the time, I didn’t know what he needed it for. I brought him the list, and he asked if I could bring all the people on that list to the back of the garage to talk to them.”

According to Slade, Fernando Alonso then pulled out envelopes full of cash, which he intended as a sort of ‘production bonus.’ “He appeared at the back of the workshop with a stack of envelopes and said, ‘At Renault, I liked to share my victories with the people who work on my car. I haven’t done this at McLaren so far, but I want to show my gratitude for the work you do on the car.’” Slade explained that the envelopes contained around “a thousand euros” each. “We didn’t know what to say. This had never happened before, and we were a bit surprised,” he added. “So we simply said, ‘Oh, how kind. Thank you.’”

Internal team conflict

However, the matter did not end there. “Soon after, Dave Ryan, McLaren’s sporting director at the time, came into the motorhome looking furious and said, ‘What the hell happened in the garage?’” Slade continued. “I explained to him what Alonso had done.” Slade and the rest of Alonso’s team were then required to return all the envelopes to the team. “He said anyone who didn’t return the money would be fired. Everyone handed the envelopes back, and I believe they were eventually returned to Fernando with instructions not to do it again.”

“Later, the media reported that Fernando was trying to buy the loyalty of his mechanics,” Slade concluded. “Maybe I’m naive, but I didn’t think that was the point. It was normal at the time. I know people who worked with other drivers who told similar stories, so it seems true that he had given money to the team at Renault. I think the story just revealed the fracture within the team. I liked Fernando a lot; I enjoyed working with him. He was a good guy, not a bad person. Some of the issues started with Lewis’s group, with Lewis and his father. This situation only demonstrated that Fernando wasn’t the right fit for McLaren. Things continued to deteriorate after Monaco. It was really a shame it didn’t work out, because Alonso was a brilliant driver and a key asset for the team.”