Adam Cooper latest column on alonso 10s stopped at pit lane events:

http://www.autosport.com/journal/article.php/id/1186

Very interesting, with new bits here and there.

But Lewis went off at quite a pace and did not give Fernando the option to pass. Alonso stayed with him initially, but the anticipated wave-by didn\'t happen, and after a few corners he began to question what Lewis was doing - the man on the other end of the radio, chief engineer Steve Hallam, did his best to placate him.

Hamilton in turn was asked by engineer Richard Hopkins to move over as planned. Indeed he asked several times, but apparently there was no response. He was then told that it was an order direct from Ron Dennis, and finally Ron himself got on the radio - as he has done during several moments of crisis this year, notably in Monaco and Indianapolis - and asked Lewis to do what had been agreed.

There is no question that this was a major, major flouting of team protocol by Hamilton, and one for which he had no proper explanation.

By this stage Alonso was getting frantic and was seriously distracted in the cockpit, and trying to keep Raikkonen behind made life even more complicated. In an attempt to calm him down, he was even told that Hamilton had ignored a direct order from Ron - in other words, Fernando was reassured that he was not being stitched up by the team in some way.

(...)

The stewards had access to two crucial bits of evidence. First, they had the recordings of the FIA GPS system, (...)

Secondly, they had access to radio transmissions - but crucially, not all of them. The teams are only obliged to open the radio link to the FIA while their cars are on track. When they come into the pits, they can maintain radio silence. (...)

In other words, no one at the FIA had heard or had a record of any conversations that happened when the cars were stationary, including any countdowns. They were, however, able to hear the on-track chat, including the by-now legendary exchange between Hamilton and Dennis.

It is standard practice for top teams to record all radio traffic in case it needs to be reviewed for any reason, but McLaren did not volunteer any \'private\' pitlane conversation recordings. That seems strange, as a recording of the countdown in particular would have been useful evidence if it showed things had happened as Alonso claimed to the media. In fact, the stewards did not specifically demand to hear any such recordings.

(...)
Then came the crucial final stop, which was preceded by some more confusion in the camp.

Alonso had one set of brand new prime tyres left, but at the last minute the team discovered a problem with the pressures. That meant a late switch to a back-up set, which had been scrubbed on an installation lap but were still in reasonable condition.

On top of everything else that was going on, this came as a surprise to Alonso, who had been expecting the new tyres. He queried the team\'s decision, and perhaps his mood was not helped by seeing a spanking new set of options being unwrapped for Hamilton, as planned.

(...)

One thing seemed blindingly obvious about the whole countdown story. Surely Alonso\'s guys could not be completely oblivious to the need to get Hamilton out - and why couldn\'t anyone else in the team override the countdown and tell the Spaniard to get moving?

I asked Ron why he hadn\'t done it himself. \"If I knew,\" he began. \"But I didn\'t understand what was going on. Once the guy is on the button saying x, x, x, that blocks the channel. I hear the countdown, but once he puts the finger on the button, he blocks the channel.