“Can You Drive?” – When Lewis Hamilton Questioned Fernando Alonso’s Ability During an Interview

A hilarious video from 2018 has resurfaced on the internet. In a press conference in Mexico, Fernando Alonso was about to ask Lewis Hamilton a question. Yes, you read that right. Fernando Alonso was on the other end of the dais. What happened in the press conference left Hamilton in splits.

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton raced as teammates in 2007 for McLaren. That was the year when Alonso moved from Renault after back-to-back drivers’ championship wins. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, was in his rookie season in Formula 1. While the two now share a good relationship, they did not necessarily look eye to eye then.

Lewis Hamilton never thought Fernando Alonso would ask him questions

The rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso started the moment Hamilton stepped foot in Formula 1. A rookie Hamilton raced hard against his own champion teammate, sometimes defying the team orders. Fernando did not take that well and often expressed his dissatisfaction with his teammate openly in the interviews. Hamilton did not hold back either and made his feelings publically known as well.

But for now, we shall keep that aside and recall a hilarious moment from 2018. As mentioned before, Lewis was about to be asked a question by Fernando Alonso. However, it was not the racing legend Fernando Alonso we know, but a journalist with the same name.

When Lewis learned of the journalist’s name, he had a hearty laugh and asked him if his name really was Fernando Alonso. Fernando answered, “Yeah, a little longer but I shortened it.”

After having a good laugh, Lewis said, “I never thought Fernando will be asking me questions.” Still fascinated by the person’s name, Lewis asked him “can you drive?”, to which Alonso replied he could, but not that fast.

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Besides Sebastian Vettel, the two are among the most experienced drivers in Formula 1 presently. While their careers after Alonso’s departure from McLaren took very different directions, they share a healthy relationship now.

Fernando Alonso’s bizarre tactic to defeat Lewis Hamilton in 2007

Former McLaren mechanic Mark Priestley spilled the beans on the Hamilton-Alonso rivalry in September when he appeared in a podcast called PitStop. Priestley revealed the lengths Alonso was willing to go to pip his rookie teammate.

He said, “one of Fernando’s tactics is to try and bring the whole team to his side of the garage.“

He continued, “There was this one race where I arrived and Fernando’s manager or his trainer, he’s handing out little brown envelopes, stuffed with cash, to everybody who wasn’t on Lewis’ car.”

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When asked about how much cash it contained by one of the podcast hosts, Priestley replied, “like 1500 Euros (about $1,470) or something.”