Lewis Hamilton Accused of Media Malpractice After Fernando Alonso’s “Dodgy” Bribe Was Vetoed

The world of Formula 1 is full of politics, with everyone looking to survive in the sport. F1 runs on the law of survival of the fastest. However, sometimes being the fastest isn’t enough. Just ask Lewis Hamilton as he got a quick introduction to the cutthroat nature of the sport in his debut season.

A rookie Hamilton could’ve learned a lot from a two-time world champion teammate in Fernando Alonso. However, their relationship turned extremely sour in the first and only year of their partnership at McLaren. Both drivers resorted to ugly tactics to hinder each other’s progress, with multiple stories coming to light.

Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley disclosed the tactics of both Alonso and Hamilton. Priestley shared an incident about a “dodgy” brown envelope he received from Alonso’s manager. Everyone in the garage got the envelope with about $1700 cash, except the ones working with Hamilton. This was Alonso’s way of increasing his chances of winning the battle against his teammate.

Discussing Hamilton on the PitStop podcast he said, “Lewis did different things, Lewis played little games with the media, they all did things wrong and things right, none of us are perfect, but how they went about their strategy for being the best Formula 1 driver was different, both achieved great results in their own different ways but they were very different approaches.”

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Hamilton quickly adapted to the cutthroat nature of the sport with his subtle approach to things compared to Alonso’s straight-shooting one. The two did not get along much, glimpses of which are still evident to this day.

Lewis Hamilton blasted by Fernando Alonso on the team radio

The most recent example of the lingering rivalry came to light at the Belgian GP. Hamilton flew after colliding with Alonso’s car during an overtaking maneuver.

An angry Alonso did not hold back from either on the team radio. He said, “What an idiot! Closing the door from the outside. We had a great start, but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first.”

However, there is a lot more maturity in their dealings compared to their McLaren days. After the incident, Hamilton signed an apology cap for Alonso, which the Spaniard collected in person.

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There might still be a lot of emotion between the two, but the veterans have learned to control their anger.