F1 Throwback: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa Get Involved in an Ugly Spat Before Podium Celebrations at 2007 European GP

During the 2007 European Grand Prix weekend, there was a massive controversy involving Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. The two were caught in a verbal spat while heading to the podium following a late duel at the Nurburgring.

The trigger for the two drivers going at each others’ throats, was a wheel-to-wheel racing moment between the duo. However, the two got a little too close for comfort on a couple of occasions, and even touched wheels at one point. Luckily for the Spaniard, he lived to tell the tale and held onto the lead to take his 18th career victory and third for McLaren.

Once the race was over, Alonso claimed that the Brazilian barged into him deliberately, and the latter didn’t take too kindly to the accusation. The fuming Massa vehemently denied colliding deliberately with Fernando Alonso and was surprised at the accusation.

The only bright spark for Alonso was that Hamilton’s championship lead was slashed visibly and he had a chance to catch him. It was also noteworthy that the European Grand Prix was hit by heavy rain on the first lap, but Hamilton managed to vault up to 4th from 10th on the grid.

This race also became notorious for the massive car park, as several drivers slithered off the track and got beached on the gravel. The red flag was thrown, and after the restart, there was a first when debutant Markus Winkelhock briefly led the race after his team changed the car to wets at the end of formation lap.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was delighted to win at the Nurburgring, with Massa 2nd and Mark Webber completing the podium. On the other end of the McLaren garage, Lewis Hamilton came away point-less after finishing 9th in the race. Fortunately, Alonso and Massa seemed to have patched up their friendship since then.