“Manipulative To Make Hamilton be Better”: Ex-McLaren Boss Ignited Lewis-Fernando Alonso Rivalry

We have not seen a rookie take a fight to a reigning world champion in the history of Formula 1, except back in 2007. Lewis Hamilton joined the circus and instantly became the star man and became Fernando Alonso‘s biggest rival. In this narrative of the age-old rivalry, Alonso has always been painted as the villain. However, this new revelation is going to change your perspective.

Alonso’s number one mechanic during his two championships with Renault sat down with Pit Debrief and spoke his heart out. During his conversation, he narrated a version of the truth that was never public and shone a positive light on the Spaniard. However, this narrative doesn’t make the Mercedes man a villain as well. Instead, it exposes the then-McLaren boss.

Fernando Alonso’s ex-engineer exposes the truth about the McLaren boss’ favoritism toward Lewis Hamilton

For the longest time, we’ve heard stories of how the two-time world champion used his seniority to subdue Hamilton. We heard stories about how Alonso deliberately put Hamilton down, which eventually broke their relationship. However, Chris Hessey, Alonso’s engineer, revealed it was then boss Ron Dennis‘ favoritism toward Hamilton because of his investment in the Brit that led to animosity between the two drivers.

“The thing is with Ron Dennis, McLaren, and Hamilton, he was brought in by Ron Dennis as a young driver,” said Hessey. “Ron Dennis said — and this was told to me by one of their engineers at the time, not Marc Priestley, another guy — he said Ron Dennis was fed up paying huge salaries to get a good driver. So he wanted to create a driver on his own. He paid for his education, his Junior Formula racing. He paid for it all the way to get into Formula One.”

“When he came into McLaren alongside Fernando, I think that’s when Fernando realized there are manipulative things going on behind the scenes. It was all manipulative to make Hamilton be better, because Ron Dennis had paid for all his Junior Formula, and he wanted to create his own driver. That’s where the friction came from,” he speculated.

Read More: Fernando Alonso Made to Curb Ambitions as Lando Norris & Lewis Hamilton Serve Brutal Reality Check in Brazil

Hessey’s revelation changes one’s perspective toward a lot of incidents from 2007, which made Alonso F1’s anti-hero. However, Alonso and Hamilton have both come a long way since. Although Alonso with fewer championships, which one F1 expert believes was down to racing abilities more than anything else.

F1 veteran gives insights into what gave Lewis Hamilton an edge over Fernando Alonso

Alonso and Aston Martin started the season on a front foot and the Spaniard got revenge on Hamilton on many occasions, which ended up sparking life into the Mercedes project in 2023. However, when it comes down to it, in equal machinery, Hamilton is still better than the Spaniard because of one aspect. This is the opinion of F1 expert Peter Windsor, which he revealed in one of his YouTube videos.

While discussing how rookies and even experienced drivers aren’t lucky enough to be part of a winning project in F1 for many years. In that regard, Hamilton was lucky enough to be part of McLaren during their glory days from the start.

So comparing the rookie with the two-time world champion, Windsor said, “Obviously, with McLaren, it worked out really well [for Hamilton]. First season there, he was shocking Fernando Alonso at how quick he was straight away, and actually doing things a little bit better in his first season in a couple of areas than Fernando. Like high-speed braking. Good example.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Lewis Hamilton Finds Himself in an Unusual Situation With His Teammate for the First Time Since 2007

So according to Windsor, politics or not, the Brit always had the beating of Alonso, which we eventually witnessed over the many years of their F1 careers. However, if you disagree, you can judge the two to battle it out on the track in 2024 as well.