“At that point Hamilton didn’t want to push” : Fernando Alonso contends that Lewis Hamilton ended up slowing down Esteban Ocon in the Monaco GP
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Lewis Hamilton(on the left) and Fernando Alonso(on the right)
Fernando Alonso turned the tables on 7-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, claiming that Hamilton had managed to end up decelerating Esteban Ocon in Monaco, costing the Frenchman a shot at gaining points.
With Alonso in seventh place in Monaco, Hamilton in the W13 was showing remarkable speed as he frazzled Alonso for numerous laps, Alpine instructing Alonso to start managing his tyres and keep Hamilton behind around this slow, narrow circuit. Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris vanished up ahead, having left an agitated line of traffic behind, led by Hamilton, who was not delighted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkQsDyk68eY
Toto Wolff, Hamilton’s Mercedes team principal, characterised the pace as “Formula 2.” Alonso responded by clarifying that tyre worries had compelled him to slow down, so when he learned his teammate Ocon was facing a five-second penalty for previous contact with Hamilton, he decided to step up the pace to help his teammate.
Also Read: “I cried in the parking lot,” Esteban Ocon following testing snub at Mercedes
Fernando Alonso gives his version of what happened at the Monaco Grand Prix
At the time, Alonso stated that Hamilton had no intention of doing the same, likely to cost Ocon a top-10 finish as he slipped out of the points from P9 when the penalty was imposed on the 25-year-old French Alpine driver.
“We had to do a lot of tyre management. We had some concerns that the yellow tyres (medium) could grain a lot on our car, and the first 10 or 15 laps I took care of the tyres a lot. After that I pushed again when they told me Esteban had to make a five-second gap, but at that point Hamilton didn’t want to push, hold Esteban at the back – yeah, disappointing,” said the Spanish driver.
Reporter: Was it difficult to keep Hamilton behind you?
Fernando Alonso: Very easy. Extremely easy#MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/tN9ipLnEk5
— Aston Martin F1 updates (@startonpole) May 30, 2022
The Monaco Grand Prix had several plot twists, including factor, torrential rain, red flags, numerous restarts, and a big syphon for Mick Schumacher, which the Haas driver fortunately avoided. Overall, Alonso was pleased with his seventh-place finish, which brought his 2022 season total to ten points.
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Rishika Saha
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