> Hamilton slams Alonso for 'unfair' move

Lewis Hamilton learned a lesson on Sunday about just how hard McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso is prepared to fight in defence of his Formula One title.

The 22-year-old Briton, who leads Alonso by two points with three races remaining, was unimpressed after being forced off the track by the double world champion at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton questioned the Spaniard's sense of fair play as well as his loyalty to a team hard hit by a spying controversy, with the loss of all their constructors' points and a record $100 million (50 million pounds) fine.

"I started to accelerate and all of a sudden Fernando came sweeping across me, and he knew I was there, so...," Hamilton said.

Asked whether such a manoeuvre might be considered hard but fair, he replied: "I wouldn't say fair, but it was hard."

"For someone that's always complaining about people doing unfair manoeuvres, and wanting to be fair, and someone I look up to...he has gone and swiped me and pushed me as wide as he could," he added.

"I was just really lucky there was a run-off area so I could take that."

Alonso, whose relations with Hamilton and the Mercedes-powered team have deteriorated to the point of outright coldness, played down the incident.

"In the first corner, Felipe (Massa) locked the front tyre a little bit and was blocking the inside and I had no space, or I had a bad exit from turn one," he said. "I think also Lewis went wide at the exit of turn one..."

Team boss Ron Dennis said it was part of racing.

"It was a little bit on the edge, they will have a conversation about it and then they will move on," he told reporters.

"This is just one of those things, pushing on each other. They are fighting for the world championship, they are going to be a little bit tough on each other. But it's nothing."

Hamilton said he intended to have words with Alonso anyway.

"I felt there was enough room for all of us to get around, but somehow I ran out of road. It is up to you to decide how that happened," he said.

Asked whether he had learnt something that he could use further down the road, he replied simply: "Yes".

"It has been a tough week, and for sure a lot tougher week for me than for Fernando because...I won't say any more."

The Briton attended Thursday's Paris spy hearing with team management while Alonso, who has been linked with a return to Renault and whose e-mail evidence was used against McLaren in the hearing, went straight to Spa.

"I feel more attached to the team, I guess, and I care a bit more I think," said Hamilton.

Source: rediffa

Ron happy to see his drivers race

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has no complaints about Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton's wheel-to-wheel antics on the opening lap at Spa.

Alonso and Hamilton ran side-by-side into the La Source hairpin after the start, with the world champion edging his title rival off the road and across the asphalt run-off.

But Lewis found great traction and charged back onto the track slightly ahead of Alonso as they plunged down the hill.

They then went through the first part of the breathtaking Eau Rouge corner inches apart before Alonso secured third.

Dennis told ITV Sport's pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz that he was quite happy to see his drivers racing each other so hard.

"It was absolutely fine," he said.

"They weren't too aggressive, and they're racing drivers, that's what they do.

"No one would blink at it if they were opposing teams.

"They didn't touch each other, it's motor racing, no problem. You get used to it."

Alonso also played down the spectacular moment.

"At the first corner Felipe [Massa] locked the front tyre a little bit, I was blocking the inside and I had no space, so I had a bad exit from turn one," he said.

"I think also Lewis went wide at the exit of turn one, so he took a little bit of advantage running in the tyre marks.

"So we arrived wheel by wheel into turns three and four, but I was lucky to be on the inside and to get the position there.

"In this situation I was quite confident and happy with my position into that corner.

"I was not too worried."

The McLaren duo held their positions for the rest of the uneventful race, leaving Alonso just two points behind Hamilton with three races to go.

"It's that little bit closer for Fernando to Lewis in the world championship, but we've got a great world championship and I'm looking forward to the last three races," said Dennis.

He felt there was little to choose between his drivers during the Spa weekend, even though Alonso had appeared to hold a slight edge throughout.

"Actually Lewis was quicker in the first and the last sector, and Fernando had him in the middle a little bit," Ron told ITV.

"The differential wasn't that much.

"The strategies were slightly different, we gave them every opportunity and we used all the engine life.

"I'm pleased that nothing silly came out of the race, no controversy, and it's great to see them both pretty close to the world championship.

"Let's move to motor racing for the next three grands prix."

Source: itv-f1

Hamilton angry over Alonso's tactics

Lewis Hamilton vented his anger with Fernando Alonso’s driving following their first-lap joust in the Belgian Grand Prix, accusing his team-mate of deliberately forcing him off the track.

As the Ferraris sped away from the front row of the grid, Alonso and Hamilton squabbled over third, running side-by-side from the La Source hairpin all the way down the hill into Eau Rouge before the Briton was forced to concede.

It was Alonso’s strong-arm tactics at La Source that displeased Hamilton.

After locking his brakes going into the corner, the Spaniard ran wide into Hamilton’s path at the exit, forcing him across the asphalt run-off apron.

Having won that skirmish, Alonso went on to finish third behind the dominant Ferraris, trimming Hamilton’s championship lead from three points to two with three races left on the calendar.

After the race the British rookie said: “I was on the outside – I don’t know whether I was ahead, but there was enough room for us both to get round fair and square.

“But he really cut across and pushed me wide.

“It was quite deliberate. I could see it.”

Hamilton felt the manoeuvre ill behoved a driver who has often lectured others about sporting etiquette.

“I just feel that for someone who is always complaining about other people doing unfair manoeuvres and everyone wanting to be fair – someone I look up to – he has gone and swiped me and pushed me as wide as he could,” he said.

Alonso denied that the pair had made contact, but Hamilton said that if that was the case it was only because he took evasive action.

“If I had held my position we would have collided,” he said.

“In fact, I think we did touch.

“I was just really lucky there was a run-off area so I could take to that.”

Alonso was unapologetic about the incident in the post-race press conference, claiming he was boxed in behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and had little room for manoeuvre.

“The first corner here at Spa is a little bit more tricky because it is a 180-degree corner and a very wide straight, so you can have many possibilities for the racing line into turn one,” he added.

“So I think it was just that.”

McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who amid what he described as the “horror story” of the unfolding ‘spygate’ revelations has also had to deal with the deteriorating relationship between his two drivers, sought to defuse any tension about their wheel-to-wheel antics.

“It was absolutely fine,” he told ITV Sport’s Ted Kravitz.

“They weren’t too aggressive, and they’re racing drivers, that’s what they do.

“No one would blink at it if they were opposing teams.

“It’s motor racing, no problem. You get used to it.”

A little later, after a chat with a McLaren official, Hamilton himself struck a more conciliatory note – but still left no doubt that he felt wronged.

“It was a racing incident, I guess,” he said.

“I didn’t feel it was fair.

“I felt there was room for all of us, but somehow I ran out of it.”

One aspect of the dice that Hamilton had no complaints about was the side-by-side moment at Eau Rouge, Formula 1’s most daunting corner.

Hamilton drew fractionally ahead of Alonso turning into the 180mph left-right-left switchback, but was on the wrong line for the uphill climb and had no safe option but to yield.

“At Eau Rouge it was just common sense to ease off a fraction,” he said.

“Fernando had the momentum and was quicker going into it.

“It would have been stupid of me to keep it flat, but I was tempted!

“That worked in Formula 3 in the wet, but I’m not sure it would work in a Formula 1 car…”

Spa was the third race in a row that Alonso has beaten Hamilton, leading some to conclude that the double world champion has now gained the upper hand – despite the breakdown in his relations with much of the team – and is poised to deny the 22-year-old the unprecedented achievement of winning the title at his first attempt.

Hamilton admitted he has been feeling the pressure, on and off the track, but said he would redouble his efforts to turn the tables in the final three races.

“It’s been a tough week, for sure a lot tougher week for me than for Fernando because…I won’t say any more,” he added.

When pressed as to what he meant by that, he said: “I feel more attached to the team, I guess, and I care a bit more.”