Former Ferrati F1 star admits Lewis Hamilton 'friction'

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Superstars

Former Ferrati F1 star admits Hamilton 'friction'

The pair have shared many battles over the years

By Sam Cook.

Saturday 3 February 2024 00:57

Fernando Alonso has admitted that he and his former team-mate, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, will likely never be friends.

The pair's battle in their single season together at McLaren turned ugly more than once, and the pair appeared to very genuinely dislike each other when the Spaniard departed.

Alonso returned to Renault after just one season with the Woking-based outfit, before joining Ferrari, the team that Hamilton is now set to join in 2025.

The Spaniard had joined McLaren as a two-time world champion, while Hamilton was taking part in his rookie season in the sport.

Both drivers finished on the same amount of points in the drivers' championship, but that was one fewer than eventual world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso now share a respectful relationship

Lewis Hamilton is set to join Ferrari in 2025

Hamilton's fiery feud

A number of incidents - including Hamilton's disobeying of team orders at the Hungarian Grand Prix - has led to what Alonso describes as 'friction' for the rest of the two legends' careers.

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Alonso has admitted that he gets extra satisfaction from beating Hamilton, even to this day, after what he feels was a lack of team thinking from the seven-time world champion at McLaren.

“Now there is another type of rivalry, but I don't think Hamilton and I will be friends in the future. After all, we don't have many things in common," he admitted in a new DAZN documentary titled Fernando.

"We noticed that there was friction. We were playing for the World Championship. At the meetings Hamilton only wanted to correct and improve the defects on his car, he didn't work as a team, in order to gain an advantage.

“There were many things that broke the relationship. We were young, immature, me in particular, and we had many clashes.

"Over time we had several battles," he continued about the pair's later scuffles.

"In 2013 in Canada and last year in Abu Dhabi we played cat and mouse. In Bahrain I experienced one of the happiest moments of the year, because I reached the podium in my first race in Aston Martin, beating Hamilton.

“Every time I overtake him it's an added satisfaction, while, on the contrary, it's a greater pain when I'm overtaken by him. I believe it will always be like this."

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari McLaren Fernando Alonso