Lewis Hamilton Once Pleaded to Be Spared From Arch-Rival Fernando Alonso’s Wrath: “Maximum Penalty”

Not so long ago, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton tangled with each other while coming out of Les Combes chicane in Spa-Francorchamps. The 2022 Belgian Grand Prix saw the two heavyweights get agonizingly close to each other and make contact. Later on, what came through the radio and press conference showed the kind of not-so-friendly bonding they share. Hamilton and Alonso always competed against each other on the highest level possible, right from the Briton’s debut in 2007. The duo never left a chance to go at each other, as happened during a press conference in the United Arab Emirates in 2018.

During the press conference, Alonso was asked about his future endeavors. He said, in a video posted by Out of Context F1, “I like Formula 1, I will always love Formula 1. So, if I will be here in the future as a driver, as a father, as a FIA boss or whatever, I will have a think.”

However, the twist came when Hamilton requested him, “Not the FIA, bro.” He then went on to continue, “At least when I retire.” As everyone laughed, the Spanish driver laughed as well and warned the Mercedes driver with a “Maximum penalty.” Even though everything was done as a joke, it was pretty clear how the two drivers never leave a chance to take a dig against each other.

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The press conference was from the time when Alonso was at McLaren. The conference also had Lando Norris, who was supposed to join the Papaya team in 2019 to replace Stoffel Vandoorne. There was current Mercedes driver George Russell as well, who just won the F2 championship in 2018. As for Hamilton, he, by then, won the 2018 world championship, making its fifth world title.

Despite the differences, Lewis Hamilton prefers Fernando Alonso over Nico Rosberg

This might come as a surprise to many, but Lewis Hamilton once picked Fernando Alonso over his ex-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Interestingly, Hamilton raced with both Alonso and Rosberg, but he ultimately preferred the Spaniard over the German, for obvious reasons.

During a ‘Choose between the two’ video that Hamilton appeared in, he was asked to choose between two people. While the options were between Jenson Button versus Valtteri Bottas or Stephen Curry versus LeBron James and many others, the Briton also had to choose between Alonso and Rosberg. To everyone’s surprise, he picked Alonso despite all the differences.

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It seems Hamilton hasn’t forgotten the five-point championship loss to the German back in 2016. So much so, he was ready to pick his arch-rival at McLaren back in 2007, where the duo competed fiercely until Alonso left the team that year itself.