Alonso Defends Stewards after Hamilton Criticism

Lewis Hamilton has just received a vote of confidence from a driver that he least expected to do so, namely his former teammate at McLaren Mercedes Fernando Alonso. Following the recent drama within the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) regarding Hamilton's warnings in the Malaysian and Chinese Grands Prix, Alonso insisted his former teammate is not getting special treatment from the stewards.

The Brit weaved in front of Renault's Vitaly Petrov on Sepang's main straight and the raced wheel-on-wheel against Sebastian Vettel on the pit lane in China, however he never got penalized for it. In Malaysia, he received a warning from the stewards, while in China he got a reprimand, together with Vettel.

While many drivers, including veteran racer Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica, and even BBC commentator Martin Brundle criticized the stewards for their latent decision-making in 2010, Alonso insisted the blame doesn't rest within the stewards' body. Additionally, he doesn't think Hamilton got special treatment in the two races mentioned above.

“The decisions are perhaps not very consistent, because there will be other times when the same happens and someone gets a penalty for it. So it varies a bit, but I don't think that's very important,” said Alonso.

“He got two warnings and maybe he will be penalized in the next race if he does something wrong. It's like referees in football: their intention is not bad, but sometimes they make a decision and other times a different one,” added the Spaniard, who is level on points with the 2008 F1 champion in the overall classification, each 11 points short of leader Jenson Button.