Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s story got off the wrong footing from its very inception. Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007, for McLaren, alongside the defending world champion, Alonso, who had also joined the team from Renault that year. An intense rivalry ensued that led to a bitter exit for the Spaniard after losing the championship and to his rookie teammate. Since then, Fernando Alonso has reiterated that ‘friendship‘ with Hamilton was never on the horizon, and probably will never be.
Alonso believes that while the rivalry between the two continues, their inherent personalities will never allow a friendship to blossom. In DAZN’s documentary about the 42-year-old titled ‘‘Fernando. Revealed.‘, the #14 driver explained (as quoted by PlanetF1.com), “Now there is another type of rivalry, I don’t think we will be friends in the future or that we will ever have… I think we don’t share many things.”
ALONSO VS. HAMILTON – 2007 Q2 PERFORMANCE
Alonso 0.251s faster than Hamilton in Australian GP
Alonso 0.593s faster than Hamilton in Malaysian GP
Hamilton 0.462s faster than Alonso in Bahrain GP
Hamilton 0.084s faster than Alonso in Spanish GP
Alonso 0.048s faster than Hamilton… pic.twitter.com/DWj8oJP7FO— Holiness (@Big_Data_Master) February 4, 2024
It was an acrimonious year for the entire McLaren team as the inter-team rivalry, and controversies besides that hindered their chances on track. Both, Alonso and Hamilton missed out on the title by a point while McLaren succumbed to ‘SpyGate‘, and Ferrari picked up the 2007 Constructors’ championship.
The two drivers let their rivalry get between the welfare of the team. However, from where Alonso stands, he blames the McLaren management and Ron Dennis for doing a miserable job at handling the situation behind closed doors.
Despite McLaren nightmare, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have grown to respect each other
2007 would have left a bitter taste in both their mouths. That being said, as they’ve grown as drivers and men, in the sport, the two have slid their differences past each other. Despite still being fierce competitors on track, Hamilton and Alonso have always held each other in the highest of regards.
Seeing the best of Hamilton at McLaren, Alonso has grown to respect his rival. 7 world titles later, Alonso commended the Briton’s hunger to keep persevering despite the odds being stacked against him.
After the latter enduring two winless seasons with Mercedes, the Spaniard revealed (as quoted by Crash.net), “It motivates all of us to see how Lewis keeps the motivation after winning so many titles.”
Toto Wolff:
“Fernando Alonso is among the 3 bests on the world. The other 2 are Schumacher and Hamilton” pic.twitter.com/GZjHbVPemz
— Aston Martin F1 updates (@startonpole) February 2, 2024
Hamilton has returned the favor, too. After his sublime drive at the 2023 Canadian GP, Hamilton reflected on an iconic podium trio of himself, Alonso, and Max Verstappen. Formula1.com quoted the #44 driver as saying, “It’s a privilege to be up here fighting these two who’ve done incredible in their careers.”
