Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have had a few flash points this season, with the Spanish driver claiming over the team radio that Hamilton only knows how to drive fast from the front of the grid, after the pair collided in Spa.
Alonso had another recent outburst about his old teammate, discrediting the Brit’s seven titles when compared to Max Verstappen’s two.
“It’s different when you win seven world titles, when you’ve only had to fight your team-mate,” he said.
“Then I think that a championship has less value than if you have fewer titles but you have had to compete against other drivers with equal or even better material.”
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Hamilton responded to the comments in typical Hamilton fashion, simply posting a photo of himself stood on the top step of the podium, with Alonso, who was then his teammate stood below him in second place, accompanied by a thumbs up emoji, with the Brit later admitting that Alonso’s comments made him giggle a bit.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has now weighed in on the drama, suggesting that Alonso has a reputation for trying to create headlines.
“He’s a hothead,” said the Austrian.
“He creates headlines, and this sport is all about headlines. They are both great world champions. Alonso is like that but I don’t think he’s upsetting Lewis one millimetre.”
Wolff has recently called for Hamilton to look to the Alpine driver for inspiration, with Wolff suggesting that Alonso still performing at the top of his game at 41 years of age should motivate his driver to sign a contract extension.
The two-time world champion has backtracked on his comments since Hamilton’s subtle response, posting on Twitter to urge people to stop attempting to search for headlines and cause drama, exactly what Wolff accused him of.
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“Please, all the titles are amazing, well deserved and inspiring. Incomparable to each other and let’s enjoy champions and legends of our current time,” he posted.
“Tired of the continuous search for headlines. Let’s enjoy them.”
Alonso will be linking up with Lance Stroll at Aston Martin next season as he grows tired of reliability issues at Alpine, while Hamilton on the other hand is set to continue his hunt for an eighth world title by signing a multi-year extension with the Silver Arrows.