Hamilton makes up with Alonso

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.

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"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."

Reuters

Comment 46 - 65 of 65

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  1. #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.

    From Dave, on Thu 8 Jul 11:28PM
  2. 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

    From The Doc, on Thu 8 Jul 2:20PM
  3. alrite pea russ hows fings led keep that chum line­ going chief we got 5 good miles on him

    From Kimbo, on Wed 7 Jul 6:55AM
  4. 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

    From liz f, on Wed 7 Jul 5:52AM
  5. 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

    From bobbo, on Wed 7 Jul 5:25AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hay Kimbo I heard that you joined touronroute and wizzo­ in the old dognobbing, is that true? Sorry Zak.

    From Leeroy, on Wed 7 Jul 12:18AM
  7. ALONSO IS A BABY WINGER

    From K, on Wed 7 Jul 12:14AM
  8. Sorry the first sentence should read:

    The reason that­ the decision took so long was, according to the­­ FIA's own website:

    From B. Wier, on Wed 7 Jul 12:13AM
  9. 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.

    From B. Wier, on Tue 6 Jul 11:28PM
  10. "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!

    From Mark, on Tue 6 Jul 10:51PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    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.

    From inxion, on Tue 6 Jul 10:17PM
  12. Sorry Zak.

    From Leeroy, on Tue 6 Jul 9:21PM
  13. 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.

    From Leeroy, on Tue 6 Jul 9:21PM
  14. 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

    From Jon, on Tue 6 Jul 8:54PM
  15. 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! :-)

    From team tekin sponsored racer, on Tue 6 Jul 8:43PM
  16. 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!

    From abc123, on Tue 6 Jul 8:23PM
  17. 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.

    From Leeroy, on Tue 6 Jul 6:04PM
  18. 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 .

    From Jon, on Tue 6 Jul 8:40AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Whitmarsh said he had no issue with what­ Alonso...........since McCheaters have the upper hand­ with Charlie and maFIA...............hehehehe

    Cheers­ Mates.

    From Pedro, on Tue 6 Jul 8:21AM
  20. 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..

    From Mclarenmaestros, on Tue 6 Jul 6:38AM
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