Fernando Alonso Called Out for Selective Blame Game Against Lewis Hamilton and Not Lance Stroll

After the Miami GP Sprint Race, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso publicly called out the FIA stewards for being biased against him. He accused them of favoring Lewis Hamilton because he was “not Spanish”. However, the two-time World Champion is now on the receiving end of some severe backlash.

On The Race’s F1 podcast, Ben Anderson rebuffs Alonso’s accusations in Miami. He pulled him up for selective lobbying.

Anderson explained,

“Stroll turned into Alonso on his outside and, of course, Alonso doesn’t acknowledge at all Stroll’s part in that incident. He’s not going to call out the son of his paymaster. So all the focus from Alonso is on one car, but the focus of the stewards is on the whole incident and every car that’s involved.” 

The stewards did not find Hamilton guilty of the incident Alonso was referring to. But the Spanish driver was adamant. On the team radio in the immediate aftermath, he said, “Whoa! Hamilton arrived like a Bull.” 

He kept taking digs at the seven-time World Champion afterwards, including the suggestion that he got away with his mistake because of his nationality. However, as Anderson explained, the reason for not penalizing Hamilton was made pretty clear by the stewards.

On lap one, drivers are usually given leeway due to scuffles that are disregarded as racing incidents. This is why penalties aren’t handed so early on, Anderson adds.

Is Fernando Alonso being singled out by the Stewards?

Miami 2024 wasn’t the first time Alonso had a bust-up with the stewards this season. During the Australian GP weekend, the Aston Martin driver had an incident with George Russell on the last lap. It earned him a hefty time penalty and three penalty points on his super license.

Even back then, Alonso was not happy with the decision made by the officials. As quoted by Motorsport, he said,

“It’s disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing.”

The stewards felt that Alonso brake-tested Russell, which caused the Mercedes driver to lose downforce and crash into the barriers. His car bounced back onto the track at a dangerous angle, leaving the 26-year-old scared for his life.

: George Russell jokes about Fernando Alonso incident in Australia, highlighting the potential chaos if it went unpunished. Despite no personal animosity, Russell emphasizes the need for penalties to maintain racing integrity. The incident set for discussion in Friday’s driver… pic.twitter.com/SdM9gMwvFo

— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) April 4, 2024

Many drivers came out in defense of the stewards after Alonso’s criticism. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc even felt that Alonso’s on-track shenanigans were overboard, and that the penalty was deserved.