Alonso Refutes Bad Teammate F1 Claim: Blames McLaren for Hamilton Fallout, ‘Most Relationship’ With Ocon

The 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso returned this season to join Alpine. This resulted in him sharing garages with Esteban Ocon. In a recent interview with Marçà, Alonso was asked about his relationship with the other drivers on the grid.

The interviewer assumed that because of his tenure as a driver, he would mostly stick with his old mates. For the Spaniard, however, that isn’t the case.

“With whom you have a relationship on a day-to-day basis, in my case, it is with your partner because you spend more time with him,” Alonso explains.

“Esteban, I think he’s 24; and yet he is the one with whom I have the most relationship.” [translated from Spanish using Google]

Alonso on relationship with Lewis Hamilton

The double world champion and the 7-time reigning champion were teammates back in 2007. Alonso was Hamilton’s first teammate back when he was in McLaren. He was, arguably, one of the best on-track pairings with Hamilton, even though the two had a few hiccups.

In their only year together, the duo finished on the same amount of points, and race wins. While Lewis, a rookie, missed out on winning the championship by a small margin, he outperformed a two-time champion- in what was one of his best seasons in the sport.

The two also shared some controversy as teammates. In the same interview, Fernando dismisses any bad blood between the two. He says that at the time; he had nothing against Hamilton, there were just some problems with the team.

“Nothing happened with Hamilton. It was more with the team, with which we had our differences… But there was always respect between us. Even on the track.”

He further shares that the two would go on runs together on Sundays and share their thoughts on the team. “We always try to fight hard, but with respect.”

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It may be hard to believe that as a matador of the sport, Alonso could have the same professional relationship with the Frenchman.

Once again, he proves us wrong. The two often play games together, play soccer and even ride bikes. He even spends time with fellow Spanish driver Carlos Sainz. “Age doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with it.”

So for the veteran, age is just a number. He is ever-young and ever-ready to make his way to the podium as he returns to the tracks this season.

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