Fernando Alonso recently said that his relationship with former teammate Lewis Hamilton had turned a lot ‘colder’ over the years.
Hamilton and Alonso were teammates at McLaren during the 2007 season. It was the former’s rookie season, and Alonso was coming off a successful spell with Renault winning 2 Championships in a row. That year was turbulent for the two drivers off the track.
The Briton and the Spaniard shared a lot of problems within the teams. They were generational drivers and were equal in terms of talent. That is evident because both drivers finished just one point behind eventual Champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Later, both Hamilton and Alonso agreed that the situation was not handled well by McLaren.
Fernando Alonso left F1 in 2018 after a second stint with McLaren. However, he returned to the sport in 2021 and is currently driving for Alpine. He recently said that while he and Lewis aren’t really ‘friends’, they share a very professional relationship.
“Lewis has a very different lifestyle and that separates us”, says Fernando Alonso
The 40-year-old driver also said that he is very different to the seven times World Champion in many ways. They don’t see eye to eye in a lot of things. As a result, he does not share an amicable relationship with the Mercedes driver.
“We talked in 2008, 2010 and 2011 and we were closer than ever in those years because we understood that in 2007 we were not very well managed by our bosses,” said the Alpine driver.
Alonso feels that career longevity is not one of Hamilton’s strengths
Lewis has won 7 world titles and is currently battling for his 8th with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. At the age of 36, fighting week in week out at the highest level may be considered a feat for some, but Alonso disagrees.
“In Formula 1, you are always motivated,” said Alonso. “If you win the championship, the following year you completely reset, start from zero, and you will never get tired of success. So I don’t think that is a strength for Lewis.
“Lewis has so many strengths but it is not impressive to keep winning. That is quite easy.” he concluded. Alonso is currently 10th in the driver’s standings with 62 points to his name.
