Racing will be more sportsmanlike after he goes, Alonso says (ANSA) - Milan, September 12 - Renault's Fernando Alonso launched a broadside at Michael Schumacher on Tuesday, saying there will be more sportsmanship in Formula 1 after the seven-time world champion has gone .

"Formula 1 will be more concentrated on sport," Alonso said in comments released by his team two days after Schumacher announced his retirement at the end of the season .

"He has broken all records and boasts the best statistics in Formula 1. But I think that Formula 1 will perhaps focus more on sport after his retirement" .

Alonso, the reigning world champion, did not elaborate on his remark but it seemed to go in the same direction as harder-hitting words attributed to him by Spanish sports daily Marca .

In that daily the 24-year-old Spanish star was quoted as describing Schumacher as "the most unsporting driver in the history of Formula 1". In defence of this statement, he reportedly claimed that his rival had been disciplined by F1 authorities more than any other driver ever .

Statistics were not immediately available to confirm this but, with Schumacher's career stretching back 15 years, experts said it was not implausible .

There was no immediate reaction from the Ferrari team .

Speaking on television at the weekend, Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer described Schumacher as a "wonderful person" with "great integrity". He added that these qualities only became visible to those that were close to him .

SCRUTINY .

The 37-year-old German has at times come under scrutiny over on track incidents that sparked accusations of foul play. He was penalised, and widely criticised, for stopping on the track during qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, preventing Alonso from setting a faster time. He said it was not deliberate .

In 1994 Schumacher, then driving for Benetton, collided with Britain's Damon Hill to deny him the title at the Australian Grand Prix .

He attempted a similar manoeuvre on Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 but crashed and the Canadian went on to take the title .

Alonso's references to unsportsmanlike behaviour followed an Italian Grand Prix marked by high tension between Renault and Ferrari .

The Renault driver was penalised on Saturday after F1 authorities said he blocked Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the pit lane. Despite Renault's protests, Alonso was pushed back five places on the starting grid for Sunday's race .

In the end the Renault driver failed to finish the race because his engine gave out .

Schumacher, meanwhile, won the race and moved to within two points of Alonso at the top of the standings .

Interviewed minutes after the chequered flag, Renault racing director Flavio Briatore said the 2006 championship had already been "decided". He later retracted the comment, which was widely interpreted as meaning that Formula 1 authorities had fixed the season in the Schumacher's favour .

ALONSO OPTIMISTIC .

In the interview released by Renault on Tuesday, Alonso made no mention of those polemics and appeared to have got over his initial anger over the pit lane incident with Massa .

"Clearly I'm disappointed about what happened at Monza and my withdrawal. But now we have to think about the next races. We're optimistic," he said .

Alonso even had praise for Schumacher and his glittering career as a driver. "We have lost a great champion of the track. We'll miss him". But he said he was "110% sure" of winning his second world championship this year, thus depriving Schumacher of his eighth .