In most ordinary walks of life, if you threaten your boss and precipitate a crisis in your company that costs it $100 million, the company is likely to dismiss you. Formula One is not ordinary, however, and one element in the shocking tale of Fernando Alonso’s alleged threatening behaviour to Ron Dennis, the McLaren Mercedes team principal, is that, for the time being at least, the Spaniard will keep his job.

It emerged on Friday that Alonso had allegedly threatened Dennis that if he did not make him McLaren’s No 1 driver, giving him an advantage over Lewis Hamilton, he would reveal incriminating e-mails about McLaren’s use of Ferrari’s secret technical data to the FIA, the sport’s governing body.

The threat prompted Dennis himself to tell the FIA about the e-mails, which prompted a new investigation of McLaren and a severe punishment in the form a $100 million (about £50 million) fine and the team being thrown out of this year’s constructors’ championship.

Despite the damage that Alonso has done and despite the misery that he has spread within McLaren this season, Dennis seems prepared to indulge his poorly advised and temperamental Spanish world champion.

To paraphrase Dennis, who has looked beaten down by the crisis in his team at times this weekend, so long as his drivers are producing the results on the track — which Alonso is doing (he was third yesterday) — then he will keep them on the payroll.

It seems that Dennis has forgotten that he has offered Alonso a fantastic opportunity this season to drive one of the two fastest cars on the grid, to earn a small fortune doing it and to represent a proud team with a long and glorious history. In return, Dennis gets results on the track but behaviour you would not accept from a child.

There are other factors at work keeping Alonso in employment. A large Spanish bank, Santander, sponsors the team and may get restive if the Spanish driver is dismissed or suspended. Hamilton, Alonso’s team-mate, is also not keen for him to go yet; Hamilton does not want to be given the world title by Dennis, he wants to win it or lose it on the track.

So Alonso is almost certainly secure for now. But there were very few in the paddock at Spa who see him staying beyond the end of the season, whether he wins a third world title or not. The intriguing question now is where he goes next and who might step into the gap he leaves behind.

The paddock rumour mill is working overtime on this. The obvious destination for Alonso is his former team, Renault, where the Spaniard will find a partner in Heikki Kovalainen, who will be easier to subdue than Hamilton. However, some observers believe that Alonso already has a contract or an understanding to go to Ferrari in 2009, most likely at the expense of Felipe Massa, and that the Spaniard will either take a year off or convince Renault or possibly Toyota to take him for only one year, something neither team would want to do.

Alonso is still arguably the most complete racing driver in Formula One, but, as much as the spying scandal has damaged the reputation of Dennis and McLaren, it has also irreparably harmed Alonso’s image as a sportsman. The best evidence of that is on the website forums that show how some of his most dedicated fans in Spain have reached the end of their tether with their hero.

As to who will replace him, the most popular guess is the young and talented German driver, Nico Rosberg, the son of Keke, the former world champion, whose recent performances for Williams in qualifying and races have been impressive. At Monza a week ago, Rosberg won plaudits for his brave and committed driving when overtaking Jenson Button. Rosberg is contracted to remain at Williams for next year, but a deal could be done to see him move.

Some say that Button could be another name in the frame. Again, he is under contract at Honda for at least another year. Like Rosberg he is well regarded as a driver, but Dennis’s views are likely to count against him. The McLaren principal has, in the past, sounded unconvinced about Button’s level of commitment both in and out of the car.