The Ferrari driver’s late brake issue at the end of the Singapore GP resulted in old rival Alonso losing his cool
Lewis Hamilton teased old foe Fernando Alonso on Instagram late on Monday after the pair’s late squabble at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari driver Hamilton, running in seventh, encountered a late brake issue in Sunday’s race, which meant he had to cut corners throughout his final few laps on the street circuit.
Aston Martin’s Alonso, who was a spot behind in eighth, as a result closed up a gap of more than 40 seconds to just four-tenths of a second by the chequered flag and was apoplectic over team radio at what he’d just witnessed.
The 44-year-old repeatedly said: “I cannot f****** believe it” to his race engineer, before adding: “Is it safe to drive with no brakes? This should be f****** P7 – you cannot drive.”
Due to numerous track limits violations, Hamilton was subsequently given a five-second time penalty, promoting Alonso to seventh and dropping Hamilton to eighth. Yet the Briton, who has endured a tough, podium-less first season at Ferrari, could not help but give his former McLaren teammate a comical dig on social media on Monday evening.
Referencing Alonso’s rant, Hamilton posted a compilation from British comedy show One Foot in the Grave, in which the main character repeatedly says: “I don’t believe it!”
Hamilton then captioned the Instagram story “18 years” – referencing his whole career in F1, with all but two years alongside Alonso on the grid.
Hamilton, 40, famously fell out with Alonso in his rookie season at McLaren when both were embroiled in a tense and fractious title battle, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen eventually pipping both of them to the championship.
Alonso, a two-time world champion, departed for Renault while Hamilton stayed and claimed his first title in 2008. He won six more at Mercedes from 2014-2020.
The pair have been involved in numerous clashes on track in the years since, but now enjoy a healthy rivalry as the two elder statesmen on the grid.
Hamilton, meanwhile, also issued a rallying cry on Instagram on Monday after what has been a difficult fortnight, following the passing of his bulldog Roscoe.
“After a tough week, it feels good to be home,” he said. “I had some time to reflect on my journey from Singapore and the main emotion I’m feeling is gratitude. The support and love I have felt since losing Roscoe has been a powerful reminder that, even when things sometimes seem dark, there is so much good in the world. You just have to look for it.
“I’m looking at the positives on track too. The media headlines only tell one story — one where we don’t get things quite right, or things don’t go our way. But what I have been focused on over the past few months is the other story. The one about how this team responds when things go wrong. How we get back up, and we go again.
“Yesterday was the perfect example. We got the strategy right, but the brake issue set us back just when momentum was building. So now we get back in the factory, learn from this last race, and plan for the next one.
“I’m really proud of this team and want to help deliver the results they and the tifosi deserve. I see the progress we are making, and the hard work that goes into every race, but this is Ferrari. Progress alone is not enough. To achieve greatness we need to go further, be better.
“There is so much we can achieve together, and if we can build on our successes, and change the things we need to, I fully believe we will get there.”
Hamilton is without a top-three finish in his first 18 races at Ferrari and is currently sixth in the championship standings. The next race is the United States Grand Prix (17-19 October) in Austin, Texas.
Category: General Sports
