Lewis Hamilton played down the incident with Fernando Alonso in F1 Belgian GP and distanced himself from the radio comments.
Despite the strong start for both Mercedes’ Hamilton and Alpine’s Alonso in F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps, the two tangled on the exit of Kemmel Straight when the Brit tried a move around the outside of the Spaniard and their wheels touched.
Hamilton went flying onto the run-off as his car was damaged which forced him to retire. Alonso continued on and eventually finished a solid fifth. The incident was deemed as a racing one from the stewards since it was on Lap 1 when they were alongside.
“The Stewards reviewed the video evidence and determined that Alonso was on the
inside at turn 5,” said the statement from the stewards. “Hamilton’s front wheels were ahead of Alonso’s at the entry to the corner. Alonso moved his car off line to the inside with both right side tyres fully on the kerb and even somewhat inside the kerb.
“At no point did Alonso appear to lose control or understeer. Hamilton turned into towards the apex of the corner with Alonso still along side and the collision occurred. The Stewards considered that this was a first lap incident with a lot of movement relative to other cars in the first few corners, and thus take no further action.”
On the radio, Alonso blasted Hamilton for a rookie-like move, even calling him an ‘idiot’ in rage. Post-race, the Brit accepted his fault but played down the radio comments from the Spaniard stating that he ‘doesn’t care’ what he had to say.
“Looking back at the footage, he was in my blind spot, and I didn’t leave him enough space, so it was my fault,” Hamilton said to TV media. “I’m just so sorry to the team. It doesn’t really matter what he said, I don’t really care. Like I said, it was my fault; I couldn’t see him, actually – he was right in my blind spot.”
On Alonso’s side, the Spaniard accepted the fact that Hamilton accepted his fault and was chill about the incident which happens in that corner. In terms of his own car, he stated that he didn’t feel any damage and managed to continue on well.
“I was surprised, and he’s now seen the incident and takes responsibility, which is very nice from him,” said Alonso. “It was a lap-one incident and nothing really to say there. The stewards didn’t say anything because these things happen, especially at that corner. It happened in the past, I remember also with Lewis and Rosberg, it is a tricky corner.
“I was frustrated in that moment, for sure. Every time we start on the first or second row or are fighting in the top two or three there is always something going on and I was frustrated. Luckily, my car was very strong, and I could continue. I don’t thik there was any damage, we need to check everything when the car goes back to the garage, but I felt the car was ok for the rest of the race,” summed up Alonso.
Here’s the video of crash between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.onboard-hamilton-and-alonsos-views-of-their-first-lap-collision-at-spa.1742414981160070423.html
Here’s how F1 Belgian GP panned out