Reuters - Mon, 05 Jul 08:56:00 2010
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton has cleared the air with Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso after a controversial European Grand Prix in Valencia.
"We are in touch. He has my number and I have his number," the McLaren driver said ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix.
"We messaged the other day, things are cool. I just messaged him to see how he was doing and he said everything's cool and he knows how the racing world works and this is a tough year."
Double world champion Alonso had criticised the Briton, his former McLaren team-mate, after Hamilton finished second in the Spaniard's home race despite being punished for illegally overtaking the safety car.
The Formula One stewards were also condemned after they took so long to impose the punishment that Hamilton had a sufficient margin to take a drive-through penalty without losing position.
Alonso, who had been right behind Hamilton when the safety car was deployed following Mark Webber's big crash, ended up finishing ninth in the race although he was later moved up to eighth after others were punished.
The Spaniard had said the race was 'manipulated' while Ferrari spoke of a 'false race'.
Hamilton had suggested the comments were 'sour grapes' in the immediate aftermath but Alonso said last week that he had calmed down and turned his attention to Silverstone.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said he had no issue with what Alonso had said in the heat of the moment and encouraged drivers to speak their minds.
"You are going to get two drivers who see the same incident from completely different perspectives and want to vent their spleen on the day and thereafter," he told reporters after a fan forum last week.
"But you've got to have some of that. Alonso was fairly outspoken but actually people want a bit of that, it doesn't worry me," the Briton added.
Whitmarsh said there had to be a limit but drivers also had to be able to query the stewards' decisions without fear of punishment.
"In the past you haven't been able to question," he said.
"People complained about the sterility of conversations and debate within the paddock. Well, there was a regime in which you weren't allowed to even hint at 'have we got it right?'.
"I don't think it's reasonable for any of us to then go on a blast and criticise the FIA (International Automobile Federation) over anything, there have to be some limits and we have to be respectful to the FIA," added the chairman of the teams' association FOTA.
"But I think it's acceptable for people to display their passion and enthusiasm and aggrievement from time to time in the sport. I think that's a healthy thing."
Comment 46 - 65 of 65
#13 if LH was slow to come around and flashed speed when he could be the only one to get past the safety car......that is manipulated result on LH's part.
An excerpt from Hamiltons text message, perhaps...
Hey Fernando, how you doing? I've been looking at the result & times from from Valencia. I would have probably struggled to finish in 2nd place if my drive through penalty had been given sooner & not manipulated for 20 minutes but you know what, I would have still been in front of you.
Give my best wishes to Luca. He & Ferrari are experts on "false race" scenarios.
Lewis xx
alrite pea russ hows fings led keep that chum line going chief we got 5 good miles on him
im really getting feed up with al the @#$% that is being put on here that has nothing to do with f1 let alone the actual story being written about. some peeps really do need to get a life. I am a huge alonso fan and as i have said before he aint perfect by a long chalk and he does whine but so does alot of the other drivers but sometimes i do feel there is a bit of a witch hunt going on. i really really dont like hamilton as i find him very big headed and thinks he is bigger than f1 itself. this doesnt make me a racist its just what makes the world go round and interesting. as for alonso and hamilton being best buddys thats not going to happen as they are competetors and need to keep a line between them even hamilton and button arent mates really they are team mates but they are all out to win the champ for god sake. im realy looking forward to the british gp this week end. COME ON ALONNSO . look forward to reading true f1 comments x
I do wish you would all stop making such crass remarks about who does what or whatever , and just try and concentrate on the proceedings. At the end of each race , the winner is first past the post , irrespective of whom you support. Please do try and remember this , and begin to act with the brains you were born with !!
Or , maybe .....................................................yo u can`t
if so , why don`t you try shutting up / ................... EH ?
your comments belitle a truly great sport
Hay Kimbo I heard that you joined touronroute and wizzo in the old dognobbing, is that true? Sorry Zak.
ALONSO IS A BABY WINGER
Sorry the first sentence should read:
The reason that the decision took so long was, according to the FIA's own website:
The reason that the decision was, according to the FIA's own website:
Both cars, LH's and the pace car have a transponder. But because the call was so close they could not be 100% certain of the exact track position from the transponders. Also they are in different positions on the cars, so they felt unable to make a decision based on this data.
They then reviewed all pictures taken at ground level but none of these could resolve the situation.
It was then decided to look at the helicopter shots and one of the helicopters provided the film that showed LH had just missed the SC2 line behind the pace car. But it took a few minutes to get the helicopter film to the stewards.
So they were not idly sitting around until LH got a big lead.
Ferrari fans say that the penalty never achieved anything, ie it never penalised LH enough. Can you please find me the regulation where it states that drivers must be penalised to suit Ferrari and its fans? This used to be case, for example Spa GP 2008 but not any more.
This reminds me of the Uruguayan defender who handled the ball on the line and got sent off as punishment even though there was no time left. OK he misses the semi-final but it didn't exactly penalise his team during the match. But no sport has rules to suit the fans whims and fancies, they are applied without pointing them anywhere.
"Hamilton makes up with Alonso??" Couldn't stop laughing when i saw that headline! Yeah after realizing he was a jacka** in the first place for whining live on TV during a race! He was such a spoilt brat seething in discontent that he forgot to finish the race and allowed Kobayashi to overtaken him. Real class Alonso!
Those of us who are Lewis Hamilton Fans may join LEWIS HAMILTON MANIACS on facebook for any discussion relating to Lewis Hamilton. It is NEW and EXCUSIVELY for LEWIS HAMILTON'S FANS all over the world. If you are not registered with Facebook already, you need to register with facebook to enable you to join the disscussion. Search for "LEWIS HAMILTON MANIACS" on facebook to join.
Sorry Zak.
Just realised what I put in my post.
Wizzo and touronroute don't like dignobbing, although I suppose they might, they do in fact like dognobbing.
i admire you for what you said abc123 . i think all drivers should get on with the driving and try to win instead of trying to put nails on others tyres
It was never an issue after the moment LH served his penalty. Alonso on the other hand, thinks its OK to throw his toys out the pram when the penalty decision still left him without as many points as he would have liked to have...
Lewis watches it blow over, and calmly messages him after a while to see all is good, Alonso realises he made a mess of things and everyone is looking to the next GP.
Well, thats how i see it all! :-)
What is this "making up"! I'm a Ferrari fan, and i don't like any of the Ferrari drivers having a romantic affair with other drivers. Alonso, before you win back friends, start winning races, because your time with Ferrari will end before its time.....bring on Vettel!
man-friday I hear what you say but wizzo and touronroute do enjoy their dignobbing and who are we to say that they can't do it? Sorry Zak.
it wasnt fair on alonso what happened but hamilton did do his penalty .after all it wasnt his fault that the marshalls took long to decide .
Whitmarsh said he had no issue with what Alonso...........since McCheaters have the upper hand with Charlie and maFIA...............hehehehe
Cheers Mates.
Pi , you're just a sour grapes FIAT fan but dont worry because your rants are becoming normal for all Ferrari fans, on the grounds that its normal that Ferrari get beat these days ! lol..
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