Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton call truce ahead of British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, former teammates at McLaren, got into a war of words after the European Grand Prix at Valencia, with allegations and statements coming thick and fast from both sides.
However, it finally seems like the two have called truce ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso from Ferrari was furious with Hamilton after the Valencia Grand Prix, where Hamilton finished 2nd behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. The 2008 world champion was handed a drive-through penalty following a safety car violation, but he managed to hold on to his 2nd position despite serving his penalty.
Alonso accused Hamilton of manipulating the race and taking advantage of F1 rules. Fernando Alonso said that he was right behind Hamilton when the safety car came out, and he backed off ending up right behind the safety car, losing ground and eventually finishing on 9th place (Alonso was promoted to 8th after further investigation by race stewards following yellow flag violations).
Hamilton, meanwhile, continued on his way and went past the Safety car entry point; it took the race stewards almost 20 laps to determine that Hamilton was at fault and had to be fined, and by that time, he had already taken a significant lead.
Alonso pointed fingers at Hamilton and pleaded to the FIA that the issue should be taken into consideration and Hamilton should be penalized; however, nothing came out of it.
Hamilton, though, did not rest and came out with a strong response, accusing Alonso of whining over sour grapes. Hamilton went on to say that this is typical of Alonso and even when they were teammates at McLaren, Alonso would always hang on to such petty issues and turn them into a big problem.
But finally the issue seems to have put to rest. Hamilton said that both of them are on good terms now, and have been keeping in touch ahead of the Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Hamilton said that both sent text messages to each other and things are good. The British driver said that he very recently messaged Alonso to see how he was doing, and the Spaniard replied that things are going well with him.
The former world champion said that Alonso told him that in the heat of the moment, things like that do take place, and he does not hold anything against his former teammate.
McLaren team Principal Martin Whitmarsh was also pleased that things were back to normal between the two drivers, and said that whatever Alonso said after the Valencia race was just out of anger and frustration. He added that Fernando is an honourable man and he did not hold anything against Alonso. Whitmarsh added that all drivers should be allowed to speak their mind and that is exactly what Alonso did.
Whitmarsh went on to say that whenever an incident like that takes place, there are always two points of view; understandably both were telling their side of the story. The McLaren team boss reiterated that his team and drivers respect the F1 rules and have never tried to go against them, and what transpired in Valencia was purely under the rules. He said that yes, Hamilton did violate the rules, but he was accordingly punished by the stewards, and the fact that they took longer than normal is not Hamilton’s fault.
Although the truce between Hamilton and Alonso is good news, but make no mistake: once the action begins this weekend, their famous rivalry will surface yet again, and in hindsight it may be good for the competition.
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