Alonso says sorry to Hamilton an idiot remark
F 1 drive Fernando Alonso has apologised to Lewis Hamilton for calling him an “idiot”, insisting that he is a “legend of the sport”, as the pair were spotted burying the hatchet at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The pair collided on the first lap of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix as they fought for second place, ending Hamilton’s race and compromising Alonso’s.
The British driver took full responsibility for the incident after the race, but in the heat of the moment Alonso had shouted over his radio calling Hamilton an “idiot” and that he “only knows how to race from the front”.
Upon hearing the comments, Hamilton said he had no intention of speaking to his former team-mate, and then posted a picture of a signed Mercedes cap with a note that said “to Fernando”, which he described as a “little fun thing”.
As their media duties collided in Zandvoort on Thursday afternoon, Alonso, who drives for Alpine, was spotted in the Mercedes hospitality area to collect his signed cap, which Hamilton duly handed over.
The pair have a historically tumultuous relationship, which stems back to when they were team-mates at McLaren in 2007 and were both fighting for the world championship. Alonso left the team at the end of the year.
“Yeah, it [the comments were] made [into] huge thing, so first of all, it’s Lewis, a legend and champion of our time and when you say something, and I’m sorry to repeat this again, [about] a British driver, there’s a huge media involvement after that,” Alonso said.
“I don’t think that there was much to blame in that moment to be honest, looking at replays. It’s a first-lap incident, we’re all very close together. In the heat of the moment and the adrenaline of the moment, finally fighting for top two, top three, made me say those comments I should have not said.”
Hamilton made clear that he just wanted to move on from the situation, and added that the cap had been “a little fun”, though at the time he was speaking to the media, he did not know that Alonso would be turning up to collect the headwear.
“It’s not a thing for me,” Hamilton said. “It doesn’t change anything, it doesn’t really affect me in the slightest. With the cap it was just a little fun thing. It’s good to have fun sometimes with these things. I will continue to.
“For me, I am always trying to be a better driver. I know there are a lot of young kids that are following me and it’s important the steps I try to take in my behaviour so I am always trying to learn and be better.
While Alonso apologised to Hamilton, he also made clear that he was not happy with how F1 uses the radio messages, which have been broadcast in recent years to showcase the conversations between drivers when out on track and their respective race engineers.
“When you say something on the radio, you think you’re talking with your engineer,” Alonso said. “You’re preparing the strategy, finally you start in top three, you overtake Checo [Sergio Pérez] on the first corner, you’re running second and something happens, you say something to your mate, your colleague, your engineer in that moment.
“You should be aware that it’s broadcasted, but it’s like — if someone makes a hard tackle in football, in that moment you say something to your team-mate or your defender, it’s not broadcasted.
“Our media time is before or after the race, and before and after the race, I said what I was thinking. In the radio, I said something that I don’t think that way [any more]. I will try to be quiet in the radio always, don’t be part of a show that I don’t agree with.”
