One of the images of the Belgian GP was produced at the start, when the Asturians and the British collided for second place
If there’s one season in Formula 1 that has marked a before and after in recent times, it’s 2007. The campaign that brought Lewis Hamilton to the big circus was a radical change in the path that led Fernando Alonso to glory. Two-time world champion, the Asturian ran into a diamond that McLaren had to polish, at the cost of blowing up the relationship with Alonso himself. The two drivers followed their respective paths: the British to the success that would lead him to the best in history in terms of numbers and the Spaniards to the pinnacle of motorsport, but like a Sisyphus with a helmet and balaclava.
The relationship between the two drivers had been completely broken for a long time, but both Hamilton and Alonso have always professed enormous mutual respect for each other. Already a seven-time world champion, the Englishman has always placed the Spaniard as the strongest rival on the grid, because if he has shown anything in recent decades it is that he always gets a plus on the performance of the car that hits him. It happened to him in the champion Renault, in Ferrari, on his return to McLaren and now in Alpine. The Anglo-French car isn’t the one they promised him, nor the support they’ve given him, so it’s only natural that he won’t hold his tongue against them now that he’s about to leave them.
But aside from the personal situation that both Alonso and Hamilton are going through, who no longer have a clearly superior car, all fans hold their breath every time the two meet on the track. The qualities of one and the other fade into the background when it comes to epic, from a rivalry that always leaves much on the track and much more on the minds of the fans.
In the clash they had at Spa-Francorchamps, there is no doubt who was to blame. Hamilton closed Alonso when he had already won the outside, knowing the Spaniard would try to keep the rope on the inside for him, through sheer traction, to resist in second place. The Mercedes driver himself admitted his mistake, possibly after seeing the repeated video of him being blown up.
It cannot be said that this accident was the main cause of Alonso falling off the podium as he would most likely have ended up in a very similar position. The pace of the Red Bulls, especially an unstoppable Max Verstappen, would have caused the Asturian to give up just like that. Whether it was a fourth or fifth place, as it eventually happened, with or without Alonso’s touch it would have ended the same.
Just because they respect each other as competitors doesn’t mean they’re good friends. Alonso let out a “this guy is an idiot” more because of the heat of the moment than really because he was thinking about it, and although he didn’t load the ink later, Hamilton was bothered a lot. “It was not the intention, but I take full responsibility. It’s what adults do,” the Briton said after the race, but threw it at Alonso without cutting himself much. “I know how things feel in the heat of battle, but it’s nice to know what you think of finds me. Better to let us know how you feel. I would have apologized to him, but after hearing what he said, I don’t intend to,” he said, annoyed by the Spanish insult.
What will happen from now on? It is more than likely that it will not be the last time Hamilton and Alonso will meet on track, despite the different trajectory Mercedes and Alpine have traveled. While the Germans are steadily closing in on the podium, the French are slightly behind, albeit in a more than optimal fourth position in the constructors’ standings. The aim is to finish the season there for the big change they will have in 2023 with the new driver replacing Alonso, after the vaudeville with Oscar Piastri.
We will have to be on the lookout for the next time Alonso and Hamilton cross swords on track. It could be this weekend in Zandvoort, where the absolute protagonist (but not the only one) will be Max Verstappen, racing at home.
Source: La Verdad
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