An upturn in form seems to have stoked the fires again in Lewis Hamilton after he reopened his feud with old rival Fernando Alonso. After going two seasons without an F1 win, the British driver has been revitalised this summer after winning two of the last three Grand Prix races, taking the chequered flag at both Silverstone and in Belgium.
He still only lies sixth in the standings, but is 101 points clear of Aston Martin driver Alonso in ninth.
The two veterans however, are still both considered challengers on the grid, and with nine world titles between them are widely perceived to be among the greatest drivers of all-time.
Their relationship in F1 has been a well-documented one though. The pair were team-mates at McLaren during Hamilton’s debut season in 2007, and clashed frequently with the Spaniard and the team actually terminating his contract by mutual consent at the end of the campaign.
The animosity appeared to resurface in 2022 after the pair collided on the opening lap at Spa, with Alonso labelling the Mercedes man an ‘idiot’ and accusing of him of not knowing how to manage a race when not at the front of the grid. Hamilton hit back with an Instagram post of the pair together on the podium at Indianapolis in 2007, with the British driver consoling his then partner after beating him.
And now the 39-year-old has fired a cheeky shot at Alonso while appearing in a game on F1’s official YouTube channel. During the 13-minute clip, this season’s F1 drivers were challenged by being shown doctored images and asked to identify the the mistake in each one.
Hamilton was shown a photograph of Alonso, 43, celebrating with a trophy at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Asked to work out the error, he pointedly replied: “Just him standing on the podium.”
After his dig, the seven-time champion did then issue the correct answer, pointing out the award in Alonso’s hand had been switched to the British Grand Prix winners’ trophy. But the blunt nature of his original response was a clear message that the feud between the two is anything but forgotten.
Indeed, when it comes to arguments over podium finishers, Hamilton is in a stronger position than most. Among his multiple record feats, he has 201 top-three placings to his name in F1, more than any other driver.
Michael Schumacher is second on the list with 155, while Alonso is down in fifth place on 106. But none of those have come this season, with the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix the last time he stood on the podium.
And next season Hamilton will be out to get one over Alonso again when he starts his multi-years contract at Ferrari. Alonso drove for the Scueria between 2010-14, but failed to land a drivers’ title with the Italian team.
