“I’m not a friend of anyone!”– Fernando Alonso dismisses Helmut Marko ‘help against Lewis Hamilton’ comment by advising Red Bull have to fight for themselves

“I’m not a friend of anyone!”– Fernando Alonso shots back at Helmut Marko for asking help against Lewis Hamilton for Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton was supposed to start the race in Turkey from P11 despite getting a pole on Saturday, as the grid penalty imposed mandated him to do it.

It was a golden opportunity for Red Bull to finish above Hamilton in Turkey, where Mercedes showed more pace, which would have served their championship interests.

So, for Hamilton to fight against the Red Bull duo, he had to first climb over the midfield pack. Over there, Marko expected a tough challenge from some talented drivers, including Fernando Alonso.

However, Alonso was of no help to Red Bull, as the Briton easily passed his former teammate. But reacting it to after the race, Alonso bashed Red Bull for expecting such assistance.

“I’m not a friend of anyone!” Alonso smiled when speaking to media, including RacingNews365.com, after Sunday’s race at Istanbul Park. “[Mercedes boss] Toto [Wolff] will say the same thing if it was the opposite.

“We do our own race. We saw this year that the pace of Mercedes and Red Bull, they are unstoppable. It was a topic in Hungary, because the circuit allowed you to defend a little bit more, but in a normal circuit, we saw [Valtteri] Bottas in Monza started last, finished on the podium.”

“Even the Ferraris sometimes, [Charles] Leclerc started last in Sochi or Carlos [Sainz] here [in Turkey], they passed by without any possible defence. I think they [Red Bull] will have to fight for the championship in their own power.”

Red Bull managed without Fernando Alonso anyway

Meanwhile, Red Bull also dealt with Hamilton without any help from Alonso or other drivers in the midfield. Hamilton’s most significant challenge on the track was Sergio Perez.

The Mexican pulled an impressive defence against the Briton, which probably made Hamilton regress his tyres, eventually propelled them to make chaotic decisions.

Now playing: A Defensive Masterclass, by @SChecoPerez 🍿🎥#PoweredByHonda

pic.twitter.com/2EtXw0Lpcy

— Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1) October 11, 2021

Apart from Perez, Yuki Tsunoda also tried to give little help to Verstappen, as the Japanese sensation held Hamilton for around eight laps at the back.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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