Following on from Sir Lewis Hamilton’s and Fernando Alonso’s collision at the Belgian Grand Prix, some pundits have jumped in to support the Spaniard, who many believe what he said over the team radio was correct.
Both drivers made an excellent start at Spa-Francorchamps and were second and third down the Kemmel straight.
As they approached Les Combes, Hamilton was right behind his former team-mate, and opted to move to the outside of the Alpine F1 Team driver.
The seven-time World Champion tried to swoop around the outside of the Spaniard; however, Hamilton cut across the double World Champion at the apex of the corner, causing a collision.
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The collision saw the rear of Hamilton’s W13 go skywards, with his car performing somewhat of a nosedive.
It came crashing down back onto the circuit, with the impact having been recorded at a staggering 45G, making it understandable why Hamilton was afraid of breaking his back!
The Brit was forced to retire from the race, unsurprisingly, whereas Alonso somehow avoided any damage and finished fifth.
However, he did have some strong words for the Brit after the incident, when he labelled Hamilton as an “idiot” over the team’s radio.
“I mean, we had a mega-start but this guy only knows how to drive starting first,” Alonso was heard saying to his team.
The collision was determined to be a racing incident, with Hamilton claiming full responsibility for it.
The 37-year-old refused to comment on what Alonso said over his radio, something which Hamilton was told about post-race.
The Mercedes driver insisted that if it wasn’t for the comments then he would’ve gone to apologise to the Alpine driver, with that now highly unlikely.
“It’s good to know how he feels towards me,” said the British driver.
“I would have spoken with him until I heard what he said.”
Hamilton has used social media to almost get back at Alonso, by sharing an old F1 video which includes the Spaniard asking for respect.
As well as this, Hamilton shared an image of a signed cap, with the writing “To Fernando” written across the front of it.
The whole situation has become somewhat petty, with Alonso having explained post-race that his wording was simply due to being “frustrated at that moment”.
“I was angry,” he admitted, “but it’s a shame that when I say something and it is broadcast, what you said becomes what you have to deal with in the media.
“Normally when you speak on the radio it’s only for your team, but I was frustrated at that point, for sure.”
Following on from Hamilton’s “excessive” social media posts aimed at the 41-year-old, several members of the paddock have jumped to Alonso’s defence.
Antonio Lobato, a veteran Spanish F1 commentator, believes Alonso’s words have been taken completely out of context.
Lobato put Alonso’s choice of words down to the heat of the moment, with the Spaniard not being the type of person to call Hamilton an “idiot”.
“You can’t take ‘What an idiot!’ from Alonso to Hamilton at face value,” Lobato said.
“Because in normal circumstances, Fernando would never say that about Hamilton or any other driver.
“What has happened since then is excessive.”
Well-known Russian F1 commentator Alexey Popov actually thinks what Alonso said was correct; not the “idiot” part, but the fact that Hamilton doesn’t know how to race in the midfield.
Popov raised the argument that the Brit has been so used to winning from the front over recent years, whilst Alonso has been battling in the “pack all the time” and knows how to deal with someone in his ‘blind-spot’.
“If you remove the ugly term ‘idiot’, he means Lewis is not used to fighting in the field,” argued Popov.
“He’s used to starting first and therefore doesn’t feel who is in the so-called ‘blind spot’.
“But if you’re in the pack all the time, you get used to it. So from that point of view, Fernando is right.”
Former F1 driver Christian Danner wasn’t afraid of letting his feelings loose regarding the collision, after questioning if Hamilton is “crazy”
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Danner went on to call the Brit “stupid”, with his excuse of not seeing Alonso due to “short-term memory” loss, according to the German.
“Of course he was solely to blame – he made the move and then said it’s not his fault because he was in the blind spot. Is he crazy?” he said.
“He saw him, overtook him and drove into his car and then says he didn’t see him. So either his short-term memory has suffered or he can’t bring himself to admit that it was just stupid.”