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Fernando Alonso has opened a can of worms with his recent comments about the infamous incident at the 2007 F1 Hungarian GP with Lewis Hamilton. In 2007, the two drivers were teamed up at McLaren, and with the increasing intensity of the championship battle, the relationship got out of hand.
In a move that was retaliation to Hamilton breaking the pact between teammates, Alonso blocked the Brit in the pitlane so that he cannot go out to do his qualifying lap.
After his tires were changed and he was refueled, the Spaniard stayed in the pit box for an added amount of time which meant Hamilton could not get to the end of the lap before the chequered flag came out.
The move was universally criticized and the driver was disqualified from that session. Looking back at the incident and the penalty that came with it, Alonso feels his side was not heard.
Talking to BBCF1 in an exclusive, Fernando Alonso claimed that he did not block Lewis Hamilton and was simply put on the wrong tires McLaren.
"The things that have been talked about and have been published on some episodes, for sure could lead to some misunderstandings. Like, as you said, 2007, the Hungary thing. No one heard my version, or the truth, or the facts. I said that I never hold anyone. They just gave me old tires when it was qualifying. So there is the radio transcript, the decision from the stewards, where it is written that they put me a penalty on an article that didn't exist," Alonso said.
"They just put the penalty but clarified it was not for any article. And things like that. And it was my team putting a protest against myself, which is the first time in the history of the sport. So when you put all these kinds of things and you don't see the facts, obviously it is difficult to clarify some misunderstandings," he added.
Do Fernando Alonso's revelations hold any weight?
At first glance, it's hard to give the Spaniard the benefit of the doubt on this one. It is next to impossible for anyone to go back and check if McLaren had indeed fitted old tires on Fernando Alonso's car. Or even the radio transcripts that show him arguing with either his race engineer or anyone else.
Secondly, Alonso is not a small name in the paddock right now, and even in 2007, he was arguably the biggest star in F1. He was a two-time world champion and had beaten Michael Schumacher in 2006 to win his final title. If he wanted to make his voice known he was not going to be without avenues to make it happen.
Alonso did get the short end of the stick though in 2007 with the McLaren gyrated towards his rookie teammate and the recent interview does show that the wounds have still not healed fully.
