Photo: Alpine F1 Team
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso made contact on the very first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix this past weekend, with the Alpine driver making some pretty mean-spirited comments over team radio immediately after.
Alonso called Hamilton an “idiot”, adding that he only knew how to win races when starting from first place on the grid – which is both unfair and untrue. While the British driver did take responsibility for the incident, Alonso only recently went on record to apologize for his words.
When asked by Motorsport whether he felt bad over what he said, Alonso stated the following: “First of all, Lewis is a champion, he’s a legend of our time. And then when you say something – and I’m sorry to repeat this – against a British driver, there is huge media involvement after that.”
“They’ve been saying a lot of things to Checo [Perez], to Carlos [Sainz], to me. If you say something to a Latin driver, everything’s a little bit more fun. When you say something to others, it’s a little bit more serious.”
“But anyway yes, I apologize. I was not thinking what I said,” explained the Spaniard, while adding that he most certainly doesn’t believe that Hamilton can only win from the front.
“No, no, no, I don’t believe [that]. I mean, it’s not that I believe or don’t believe, there are facts that it is not that way. So, it’s something that you say in the heat of the moment. But as I said, nothing that I said is true, or there are facts that are completely the opposite. So, I have huge respect.”
Alonso also said that he hasn’t yet had the chance to apologize to Hamilton in person but that he hopes to do it at Zandvoort. He then went on to say that he believes that what happened on lap one in Spa was simply a racing incident and nothing more.
When asked by Motorsport whether he felt bad over what he said, Alonso stated the following: “First of all, Lewis is a champion, he’s a legend of our time. And then when you say something – and I’m sorry to repeat this – against a British driver, there is huge media involvement after that.”
“They’ve been saying a lot of things to Checo [Perez], to Carlos [Sainz], to me. If you say something to a Latin driver, everything’s a little bit more fun. When you say something to others, it’s a little bit more serious.”
“But anyway yes, I apologize. I was not thinking what I said,” explained the Spaniard, while adding that he most certainly doesn’t believe that Hamilton can only win from the front.
“No, no, no, I don’t believe [that]. I mean, it’s not that I believe or don’t believe, there are facts that it is not that way. So, it’s something that you say in the heat of the moment. But as I said, nothing that I said is true, or there are facts that are completely the opposite. So, I have huge respect.”
Alonso also said that he hasn’t yet had the chance to apologize to Hamilton in person but that he hopes to do it at Zandvoort. He then went on to say that he believes that what happened on lap one in Spa was simply a racing incident and nothing more.
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