Alonso Misses Hamilton as Teammate

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, back when they were celebrating 1-2s for McLaren

Fernando Alonso is the first of the current F1 drivers to issue a public support to former teammate Lewis Hamilton, following the Australian Grand Prix “lie-gate”. The Spaniard stepped in Hamilton's defense during a meeting with the Spanish media on Thursday, insisting the British champion has the power to restore his image in the sport.

The Spaniard advised his former teammate to win as many races as he can and give it his best on the track, as this is the only way he can really make the fans respect him as before.

“I think to really help the reputation or whatever has been damaged, I think will be very easy if he keeps winning. The maximum we can do is driving the car, winning races, winning championships. This is the best thing you can do,” said the Renault driver.

Although Hamilton was practically the reason why Alonso was forced to leave the Woking based team two years ago (as he considered his rookie teammate as being a protege of then-team principal Ron Dennis) the 27-year old driver looks back at the time spent at the British outfit with feelings of regret. Having a top teammate to challenge him and push him to the limit is surely something he misses the most.

“We had a good competition which helped each other to find our limits. I can say that maybe I am missing that competition in a way because, as I said, it was quite fun to really push and find new limits from ourselves,” added the Spaniard.

The statement could only hurt Alonso's current teammate Nelson Piquet Jr., who is yet to pose a real challenge for the Spaniard after 22 starts for Renault.