Lewis Hamilton “moaning” not needed in “battle royale” with Fernando Alonso

Alonso and Hamilton in Hungary — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

Hamilton “moaning” not needed in “battle royale” with Alonso

Alonso fended off Hamilton to protect team-mate Ocon's race lead

Sam Hall

Tuesday 3 August 2021 18:13

Ross Brawn believes Lewis Hamilton's "moaning" during his stunning Hungarian Grand Prix fight with Fernando Alonso was unwarranted.

Fernando Alonso was named the fan's driver of the day after the race ahead of victorious Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon due to his stout 10-lap defence of fourth position against Hamilton.

During what was an intense battle between the two world champions, Hamilton took to the radio to complain to the team about what he considered to be unfair moves as Alonso blocked.

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"Guys! Did you see he just moved over on me? C'mon! At that speed it's so dangerous," aired an annoyed Hamilton.

Despite the Mercedes driver's accusations, Brawn viewed Alonso's driving as "fair".

Describing it as a "battle royale between Fernando and Lewis", F1 managing director motorsports Brawn wrote: "What you see when Fernando is involved in F1 are incredibly tough battles but you always know he is going to be fair.

"I know Lewis was moaning a bit at one stage about Fernando’s defence, but I didn’t think it was a problem.

"Fernando was tough and fair and always gave just about enough space, which is what you have to do. It was a brilliant battle and hopefully a taste of what is to come in the second half of the season."

Alonso gets Brawn's vote

During the pit stop phase, Alonso led his first F1 laps since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix when racing in his final year with Ferrari, setting a new record in the process.

In his comeback year after two years racing in other categories, Brawn was glad of the fan's recognition of the Spanish driver's "great performance".

"I’m glad Fernando won driver of the day because I want to give him my vote as well," added Brawn. "It was a great performance.

"One of the Alpine drivers was going to get this award and it probably swung from Esteban to Fernando with that battle."