The claws were out at McLaren during this past weekend's Hungarian F1, with heated exchanges between drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, and team boss Ron Dennis. The latest outbursts come just a week after a preliminary decision in the F1 spy scandal and shows a usually close-knit McLaren team coming apart at the seams.
The latest tiff was triggered by 22-year old Hamilton ignoring radio orders to allow teammate Alonso to pass on the third round of qualifying. This led to a radio swearing match between Hamilton and his boss Ron Dennis, and also spurred Alonso to later hold up his teammate in the pits, eventually costing the Spaniard his pole position and the team its championship points for the event.
Hamilton managed to win the Hungarian F1 GP after a strong challenge from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, while Alonso finished up in fourth place, not being able to overcome BMW's Nick Heidfeld who took third. Fellow BMW driver Robert Kubica ended in fifth, ahead of Ralf Schumacher in sixth and Nico Rosberg in seventh. Rounding out the top eight was Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, taking the last point in a disappointing race.
The outcome for McLaren is a pair of world-class drivers who are not speaking to each other. While Dennis expects Alonso to finish out his contract, he reportedly would not stop the champion from leaving the team if he refuses to accept the idea that both he and Lewis are equal drivers. Could he return to Renault where he was a proven winner? Time will tell, but for now, Team McLaren is in limbo after a strange and unfortunate weekend of racing.
[Source: Sports Illustrated, Sporting Life]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
why not the LS2LS7? @ Aug 6th 2007 3:17PM
McLaren should sit Hamilton out in the next race and find another driver to hopefully find them some manufacturers' points.
If he thinks he can make all the decisions for the team, he needs to be shown otherwise.
Even the most brilliant tool is useless if it can not be directed to do what you need.
Eric Aitala @ Aug 6th 2007 3:27PM
Here is what I do not understand... if McLaren wanted Alonso to be in front of Hamilton, why was he not the first car at the end of pitlane at the start of Q3? As it was, Alonso ended up behind Raikonnen, IIRC, so why should Hamilton let them both by?
The other thing I do not understand is that if Alonso did not hold up Hamilton, they both would have been able to do the extra slow lap at the end.
EMA
Hwins @ Aug 6th 2007 4:03PM
Alonso a proven buttmunch, visibly celebrating things like Schumacher's engine failure, and general arrogant comments. I love watching him drop to second best on his own team.
Hamilton could be a buttmunch too, but I'll leave judgement for later.
Derek Kreindler @ Aug 6th 2007 4:06PM
Senna Vs. Prost baby!
testa di cazzo @ Aug 6th 2007 5:52PM
calm yourself son. don't compare any of today's drivers to senna or prost. that's blasphemy
Derek Kreindler @ Aug 6th 2007 9:21PM
Please, they can't touch Alain or Ayrton, but a feud like theirs could bring some much needed excitement to Formula 1.
Viv @ Aug 6th 2007 4:14PM
And to think some of these F1 elitists poke their nose at NASCAR. Atleast we don't have any of this nonsense. Every driver for themselves.
ermax18 @ Aug 8th 2007 10:02AM
HAHAHA.. No BS team orders in NASCAR my ass!
dailyCarVideos @ Aug 6th 2007 4:21PM
watch the video of Alonoso blocking Hamilton here:
http://dailycarvideos.com/2007/08/05/alonso-blocks-hamilton-at-pitstop-in-hungary/
Galley @ Aug 7th 2007 9:08AM
I don't speak Spanish, or Italian, or whatever language the announcers were speaking, but I'm pretty sure they were saying "WTF?".
The Doctor @ Aug 6th 2007 4:31PM
Unfortunately, after excessive press adulation, the Great British backlash has begun against Hamilton.
Although Hamilton's ignoring of orders and his *ahem* frank exchange of views with Ron shows a certain pig-headedness, it was not cheating as many people seem to have claimed since it had no effect on any other drivers' lap times.
The exact nature of the hold-up in the pits can only be determined from listening to the radio communication between the team and the two drivers and the only people who have done that are McLaren and the FIA.
kurt @ Aug 6th 2007 7:17PM
Ironic right after the friendly rivalry commercial comes out
Brad @ Aug 6th 2007 8:57PM
Alonso doesn't like it that he has a team mate that is challenging him. He just needs to shut his mouth and drive the car.
This thing about is being a certain drivers turn to get the last lap is silly. Either the fastest driver at the end of Q2 gets the last lap or the FIA needs to put the 107% rule back in.
Under that rule a driver's slowest lap in Q3 could not be slower than 107% of his fastest lap. That would eliminate possibly gaining an advantage by crossing the line just ahead of time running out.
If Alonso wants to go back to Renault and run at the back part of the top 10, then let him. It would serve him right for being such a cry baby.
Coleman @ Aug 6th 2007 9:02PM
Alonso is a punk bitch. Ferrari needs to give Kimi a better car so he can out qualify the McLaren and stay out in front to have a chance to win and catch up in the standings.
Gooch @ Aug 7th 2007 7:25AM
I thought it was 1990 again!
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but if you think a 22-year old is going to do everything his bosses tell him, think again. Especially when that 22-year old is leading the Formula 1 world championship and (as it has been widely acknowledged) the double world champion is clearly trying to destabilize him!
I applaud Lewis Hamilton for standing his ground, even if it meant telling the legendary Ron Dennis to "go f------ swivel!" That boy has got a pair of brass stones! And it also shows he KNOWS he's in the catbird seat -- Dennis is not going to sit him down for a race, not with all this kid has done for McLaren this year. That's a pretty damn stupid thing to say. This isn't picking flowers -- it's motorsport, and if you don't have the stones to tell anyone that's in your way to go f------ swivel, then you don't belong.
That kid is going to be world champ and Alonso doesn't know how to handle it.
Neil @ Aug 7th 2007 10:28AM
Damn, I missed qualifying on Saturday. I would really like to know what McLaren's excuse is for telling Hamilton to move over and let Alonso by. I would guess they wanted to give him clean air to make a fast lap in...if you think about it, this is an unfortunate side effect of the current qualifying format. Both Hamilton and Alonso are extremely talented drivers in extremely competitive F1 cars, and both need to have an equal chance against the clock in qualifying.
That being said, I don't understand why 15 minutes is not enough time for 10 cars to get out and make a fast lap in clean air...
amp @ Aug 7th 2007 11:13AM
Throw up an F**king spoiler alert next time a-hole.
ermax18 @ Aug 8th 2007 10:51AM
Yeah AutoBlog is really pissing me off lately with all the spoilers. This isn't a racing news site. If I wanted racing news I would go to a different site. Most non-racing news sites are very careful when they throw racing news in the mix and don't have pictures of the podium and have warnings in the titles.
Thanks again AutoBlog!
Tagg @ Aug 7th 2007 5:19PM
I think Lewie needs to watch his mouth when speaking to his boss, one who has spent millions in his deveolpment. If you went and spoke to your boss like that there it is almost certain you butt would be bounced out the door. The only thing saving Hamilton is the fact Dennis spent millions on him. I also find it funny that one of the reasons Montoya was let go because he was a "trouble maker". Now look at what Dennis has, something that could turn into a meltdown and pair that with the Ferrari espionage case these two problems could become very distracting to a team.
Darren @ Oct 9th 2007 11:16PM
Arrgg... could you please put a spoiler alert for posts like this!