Fernando Alonso has made light of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko's criticism of him, saying he is "flattered".
Marko accused the Ferrari driver of constantly being involved "politics" during an interview with the company's in-house Red Bulletin magazine.
When asked how Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari would feel about being beaten by a "drinks manufacturer" following Sebastian Vettel's third consecutive title, Marko replied: "There is no way Enzo would have liked such defeat, but he would acknowledge the performance of the opposition - and then would whip his boys accordingly so they'd do everything to beat us. But not with such actions as we have recently experienced.
"Alonso is constantly involved in politics. I believe we saw the stress he was under towards the end of the season. Saying things like, 'I'm competing against Hamilton, not Vettel,' and 'I'm up against Newey,' these psychological skirmishes. We said, 'Just ignore him.'"
Alonso, who enjoyed a 42-point lead over Vettel at one stage last season before finishing three points behind the Red Bull driver, laughed off the comments from Marko via Twitter.
"I enjoy reading that redbull still think we will be the strongest rival for next year! And this even before start testing!! Flattered..;)," the Spaniard wrote on the social networking website.
