The top two drivers in Formula One may have kissed and made up, but the MotoGP world champion and his young teammate made no secret of their mutual disdain as they prepared for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix at a soggy Don-ington Park in Leicestershire.

While all eyes are on the latest instalment of the duel between Casey Stoner’s beastly Marlboro Ducati and Valentino Rossi’s slower Fiat Yamaha, the once all-conquering Honda have mounting problems. Not only is Nicky Hayden, the man who deposed Rossi for the first time since 2000, out of the championship reckoning, but he has revealed the lingering bitterness he feels for Dani Pedrosa, his teammate.

“I’d be lying if I said things weren’t strained,” Hayden said. “We don’t speak to each other and that’s the first time I’ve had a teammate like that.” Pedrosa, a less than ebullient figure, confirmed the rift. “Things are not the same,” he said.

The problem emanated from the crash in the penultimate round of last season when Pedrosa took out his teammate. Hayden having believed that his title challenge had ended there, succumbed to tears and said: “I acted like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum.” When Rossi fell off in the next round, Hayden won the title anyway, but he was unimpressed by Pedrosa’s attitude. “I don’t know if I can forgive him,” he said.

The spat is all that Repsol Honda need as they try to score a first victory of the season. Pedrosa, the double 250cc champion lying third in the standings, has not won since he was here last year and he put the blame at Honda’s door.

“The frustrating thing is not seeing Casey win, it’s expecting a good bike,” he said. “I am struggling all the time in the race. The concept was not correct.”

Such words will not go down well in Japan, where riders are viewed as dispensable, but Pedrosa’s frustration is understandable. He had the measure of Stoner in their 250cc days, yet the Australian, also 21, has defied expectations. So has the Ducati; the bike’s straight-line speed is such an advantage that it has led to allegations of cheating, forcing race chiefs to strip the bike in search of technical infringements.

In the 125cc race, Bradley Smith hopes to add to his burgeoning reputation having risen to eighth in the standings and becoming, at 16, the youngest Briton to stand on a grand prix podium when third in Le Mans.

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