Fernando Alonso called Lewis Hamilton an “idiot” and said he only knew how to drive when he started first after his accident on the first lap of the Belgian GP, which forced the British driver to retire and may suffer further consequences due to damage to his engine.
Just four days later and in the run-up to the race in Zandvoort, the Spaniard has acknowledged that he made those comments in the heat of the moment and that it does not reflect what he really thinks about the Mercedes driver.
“First of all, Lewis is a champion, he is a legend,” Alonso said in response to a question from Motorsport.com about whether he regretted his comments.
“And then when you say something, and I’m sorry to repeat it, against a British driver, it has a huge repercussion in the media.”
“Many things have been said to Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz or me. But if you say it to a Latino driver, it’s all a bit more of a joke. When you say it to others, it’s a more serious issue.”
“But anyway, yeah, I apologize, I wasn’t thinking about what I said. I don’t think he was too much to blame [for the accident] at the time either, to be honest after watching replays, it’s a typical incident of the first round, we are all very close”.
The Alpine driver also explained that he didn’t really mean what he said at the time about Hamilton only knowing how to drive when he was out front.
“No, no, no, I don’t think so. It’s something that is said in the heat of the moment, but as I said, I don’t think anything of what I said, there are facts that show the complete opposite. I have enormous respect for him” .
Alonso also said he hadn’t had time to apologize directly to Lewis, but hoped to do so at Zandvoort on Thursday.
“No, no, I haven’t yet. But when we’re talking on TV I’m going to go up to him and say I feel like he got it that way.”
“I have no problem with him. And like I said, I have a lot of respect for him.”
The Spaniard explained that the riders often say things on the radio that they don’t mean: “The heat and adrenaline of the moment, fighting to be among the first two or among the first three, made me make those comments that I shouldn’t have said “.
“But at the same time, as I said after the race, it was a racing incident in my opinion.
“When you say something on the radio, at that moment, you think you are talking to your engineer, so you are preparing the strategy.”
“But yes, you start in the top three, you overtake Checo in the first corner, you get second and then something happens and you say something to your partner, to your friend, to your engineer.
“Obviously, you’re aware that it’s broadcast. But it’s like if someone makes a hard tackle or something in football, at which point you say something to your teammate, or whatever.”
“Our time to speak to the press takes place before and after the race, and in those moments I spoke my mind. On the radio, I said something that… I don’t think so.”
Alonso also admitted that he will be more careful with what he says in the future: “Sure, now I’m going to be very calm on the radio. In this sport everything is broadcast, even the things that you think you have a bit of privacy with your team. So yes, I will always try to be calm on the radio so as not to be part of a controversy with which I do not agree.”
The Spaniard also took the opportunity to question whether the radio of the pilots with their respective teams should be broadcast live for all spectators.
“I don’t think so, as I said, it’s the only sport that does it, in football, tennis or whatever, you can have your moments of intimacy with your team.”
“But I know this is part of the show, and like I said, all the stuff that’s on the radio is usually a bit spicy, because the organizers want that spicy.”
“They never broadcast when you say you have to change a parameter to broadcast five, because it’s not interesting, but that’s what we talk about every lap. I get it. And unfortunately the step we’re going to have to take is to stay quiet all the time.”
On drivers using the team radio to send messages to the race director and trigger penalties, he said: “At that point, I knew I was out of the race. And there was really nothing to do.”
“Every time we talk to the race director it’s also for safety reasons, if we think there’s debris on the track, if there’s too much water, too little or whatever.
“So I see that as good, but I repeat, that should only reach the race director or your team, at home it is difficult to know how to read all the things that are happening on the track,” Alonso concluded.
