Lewis Hamilton on Fernando Alonso feud: ‘It’s not a thing for me’

Sir Lewis Hamilton suffered his first retirement of the season at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix.

Sir Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso appear to have buried the hatchet on their Belgian Grand Prix collision, after the duo spoke at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Alonso labelled his 2007 McLaren F1 team-mate as an “idiot” who “only knows how to start from first” over his team radio, after the seven-time World Champion was at fault for the pair’s incident at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.

Alonso and Hamilton made excellent starts to the race last weekend and were running second and third along the Kemmel straight.

As they approached Les Combes, Hamilton moved to the outside of the Spaniard and attempted to overtake the Alpine driver around the outside.

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Hamilton made a complete mess of the move, after cutting across the 41-year-old at the apex of the corner resulting in a big collision.

The incident saw the rear of Hamilton’s W13 lift off the circuit and go almost vertical, with his car performing somewhat of a nosedive.

His impact back with the circuit was recorded at an astonishing 45G, making his immediate retirement from the race unsurprising.

Hamilton was asked about Alonso’s radio comments post-race, after he heard what the Spanish driver said about him.

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Whilst Hamilton failed to comment at the time, he made his opinion on the comments known via social media.

It began by the Mercedes F1 driver posting an old F1 video on Instagram, where all the drivers, including Alonso, asked for respect.

This was followed by Hamilton sharing a picture of a signed cap of his, with the words “To Fernando” written on the front of it.

Some have called Hamilton’s social media antics ‘petty’; however, Hamilton admitted it was just a “little fun thing”.

Alonso did apologise to Hamilton regarding what he said over the radio, with the British driver revealing that the supposed ‘feud’ between them isn’t “a thing”.

“It’s not a thing for me,” said the 103-time GP winner.

“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 and I know there are a lot of young kids following me and it’s important the steps I try to take in my behaviour.”

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Hamilton was just a tenth behind polesitter Max Verstappen at the end of the second sector during qualifying at Zandvoort but was forced into aborting his lap, after Sergio Pérez span ahead of him at the final corner.

In the race, the Briton was in with a shout of victory, but a strategic mistake ultimately left him vulnerable towards the end and he finished down in P4, while George Russell crossed the finish line in second.