“I have tried to be really respectful”: Lewis Hamilton explains why he dissed former teammate Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso mentioned that Lewis Hamilton’s World Title wins did not mean as much as his or Max Verstappen’s, and the 7-time Champion did not take it well. 

The rivalry between Hamilton and Alonso started back during the former’s debut season in F1. The two were teammates for just a year, but have taken digs at each other for a long time after.

Recently, Alonso stated that most of Hamilton’s Title wins were achieved without much competition from anyone other than his teammate. He and Verstappen on the other hand had to fend off much tougher rivals. Shortly thereafter, he posted a Tweet insisting that his quotes were taken out of context and he never meant any disrespect to Hamilton or his incredible achievements.

However, as far as Hamilton was concerned, the damage was already done. The Mercedes ace did not take these comments well. Yesterday, he posted a picture on Twitter that showed him standing on the top podium, patting Alonso’s shoulder as he stood in second place. To add salt to the wound, the 37-year-old did not give any context to the picture and just put a ‘thumbs up’ sign as a caption.

This Tweet became viral on social media and fans loved how Hamilton hit back at his rival.

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Lewis Hamilton has always tried and praised Fernando Alonso

Hamilton and Alonso have been rivals for quite some time even though were teammates for just one season. Despite that, they have always praised each other for being legends of F1. Hamilton, however, feels that respect is not reciprocated from Alonso’s side at times.

After the Mexican GP on Sunday, the Stevenage-born driver said he had always tried to be respectful towards his former teammate. Alonso, meanwhile, ends up making comments that he termed as ‘interesting’.

Lewis was asked about his tweet last night in the presser 😂😂💀💀

(Apologies for the sound quality) pic.twitter.com/H7p2vwqWer

— Ky (@FiftyBucksVT) October 30, 2022

“I have tried to be really respectful over the years,” he said. “For example, when you ask me about who’s been the better driver for me I always try to give praise. But, it’s definitely interesting to see the comments that are made.”

When asked about why he used the thumbs up emoji, he replied by saying that whatever happened, didn’t matter much to him. Hence, he sent his response in the form of a single emoji.

Also read: Sergio Perez stops Mexican fans from booing Lewis Hamilton during post-race interview; F1 fans react