Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa admits it wasn't always easy working with Fernando Alonso at McLaren given the Spaniard's criticism and persistent pressure.
Honda's relationship with the Woking-based outfit reached its epilogue last month when the two partners announced the end of their association after three painful and fruitless years.
Hasegawa says it has been three years of huge pressure, much of which came from Alonso himself.
"Alonso always came to put pressure on me," the Japanese told El Confidencial newspaper.
"If the car was bad, he had no qualms about telling me he was not happy.
"But he is a good person and he probably felt very bad about having to scold me. But he had to, because he wanted everything to be right," Hasegawa told the Spanish publication.
Hasegawa denied however paddock claims that Alonso is "too political" a driver, and conceded that it was the Spaniard's prerogative to dispense criticism.
"No, not at all," he said. "Alonso criticised us because he was not satisfied, as he had every right.
"There are people at Honda who were not happy with Alonso's attitude, but for me it was not a problem.
"I am personally very disappointed that I did not give him a good engine, but here in F1 it is difficult for everyone to be happy.
"Because he was not happy, it is very difficult to establish a good working relationship," Hasegawa added. "But of course it was not personal.
"Alonso did his job, as he was a good professional. But drivers are very emotional guys and you have to understand when they behave like that," he said.
"If he had the best car, would he be happy? Yes, and that is why we cannot complain."
Haseagawa believes that ultimately, Honda's ambitions with McLaren were simply excessive.
"Honda's expectations were so, so high. That was our big mistake," he said.
"We were too ambitious, and actually we were not ready in 2015. But Honda's identity is to always fight, never give up, and if it was different we would leave F1," he said.
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