Hamilton and Alonso Engage in War of Words
After last Sunday’s very competitive European Grand Prix, the great rivalry between McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was renewed. Hamilton labeled Alonso’s accusation of him overtaking the safety car in last week’s race as ‘sour grapes.’
Alonso claims that as a result of Hamilton passing the safety car, the result of the race was ‘manipulated.’
The McLaren driver thinks Alonso is just being a sore loser and added: "I saw him overtaken by a Sauber. He must have been completely in another world."
Hamilton was, of course, referring to Alonso being overtaken by Kamui Kobayashi on the second to last lap thanks to a wonderful maneuver by Kobayashi. He also added, "It's very unlike him to be overtaken by a Sauber."
The British racer did receive a penalty for his infringement but still managed to finish in second place behind Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.
At the time of the overtaking, Alonso was in third, just behind Hamilton. When the safety cars appeared out of the pits, Vettel and Hamilton steered clear of it, while Alonso was at the front of the pack of cars trailing behind it.
The Ferrari driver ended up in ninth place, but was moved up to 8th place. The reason for this was that there were a number of cars penalized for driving too fast when the safety car was out.
It took the judges nearly half an hour to set the penalty for Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver received the penalty of 15 laps after the incident.
Due to the amount of time it took to be given the penalty, Hamilton was able to conserve his second place position. He had built a lead comfortable enough to retain his spot.
Alonso was unimpressed with the stewards’ penalty assessment, saying “they gave the penalty but a bit too late - 20 laps to investigate one piece of overtaking.”
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, president Luca di Montezemolo, and vice-president Piero Ferrari are all displeased with what Hamilton did and the late penalty assessment by the stewards at the European Grand Prix.
President Luca di Montezemolo thinks that what happened is "unacceptable.” He also claimed it could create “dangerous precedents,” and that the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) should look into taking further action regarding the situation.
Charlie Whiting is the race director and his integrity is being called into question by Alonso. However, it is unlikely that the FIA will take any action regarding the situation.
Hamilton had his share of comments for Alonso’s complaints: "I don't understand why I affected his race so much. Everyone has a right to their opinion, and he must be disappointed with his own result, but I didn't do anything to him."
The 25 year-old Hamilton defended the stewards and complimented them on the job they are doing this season. Hamilton has been penalized a number of times in the past and he is very satisfied with their performance this year. “The FIA are doing an incredible job because they are allowing us to race this year,” he said.
McLaren team Principal Martin Whitmarsh stated: "If you look at the incident itself it was very, very difficult to avoid what happened. It was minuscule."
The rivalry between Britain’s Lewis Hamilton and Spain’s Fernando Alonso was born in the 2007 season when the two were teammates at McLaren and experienced a boisterous season with each other.
The bottom line here may be that while it did take long for the penalty to be assessed, the outcome on the race cannot solely be blamed for that. If Alonso wants to prove himself, he’ll have to show it in the remainder of the season.
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