When Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton’s fall out led to a Budapest bust up for McLaren in 2007
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Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were the two of the hottest properties in F1 back in 2007. The Spaniard was coming at the back off to two consecutive world titles after ending Michael Schumacher’s dominance in the sport. This meant that Ron Dennis had to have him on his team to bring back McLaren’s glory days. But, at the same time, the team needed a second driver who could play second fiddle to Fernando.
This paved way for a sensational driver in Lewis Hamilton to enter F1, a driver who had the backing of Ron Dennis from the very beginning. Fernando was expected to be No. 1 driver for the Woking based team but Lewis Hamilton had some other plans. The Brit emerged out to be a serious title contender which obviously didn’t go down with his team mate who had his sight on his 3rd world title.
This fall out became evident in Hungary, when McLaren decided that it was time to prioritize Fernando. The team had a policy where they favored their drivers on certain tracks and this time it was Fernando’s turn. That’s why they decided to stop Lewis Hamilton for more time than usual, ultimately leading to him losing pole to his team mate as he couldn’t start his last flying lap.
Also Read: WATCH: Charles Leclerc’s heartbreaking radio outburst after his French GP crash
Throwback to the time when Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton’s controversial pit stop led to McLaren lose two titles
This is something that didn’t go well with the governing body and McLaren had to pay the price eventually by losing both championships. FIA’s judgement read, “The explanation given by the team as to why they kept Alonso stationary for 20 seconds after completion of his tyre change and therefore delayed Hamilton’s own pit stop is not accepted.”
“The actions of the team in the final minutes of qualifying are considered prejudicial to the interests of the competition.”
McLaren’s response to the judgement was, “Every effort was made [in qualifying] by the team to maintain our policy of equality; however in the heat of the battle there are occasions when the competitive nature of drivers sees them deviate from the agreed procedures.”
This was definitely a dark day in the history of F1. It’s absolutely understandable to favor one of the drivers but not allowing the other driver to compete is something completely unacceptable.
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Shubham Bajpai
(776 Articles Published)