‘Lewis Hamilton ruined the race’ – Fernando Alonso holds secret FIA talks after controversial ‘Spanish’ crash theory

Fernando Alonso has doubled down on his claim that Lewis Hamilton escaped a penalty in Miami ‘because he is not Spanish’.

The former McLaren teammates were involved in a first-corner crash in Saturday’s sprint that took Lando Norris and Lance Stroll out of the race.

Hamilton (far left) dived down the inside which squeezed both Aston Martin cars together

Hamilton – starting 12th on the grid – made an audacious manoeuvre down the inside of Alonso on the first lap at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Brit’s lunge forced the Spaniard into his Aston Martin teammate, Lance Stroll – who, in turn, clattered into Norris, and forced them both into early retirements.

Hamilton used the crash to leapfrog up the grid but Alonso dropped down the order with a puncture and later finished 17th.

The Mercedes driver immediately hopped on the radio to stress that he’d seen a ‘gap’ but his rivals took a dimmer view of his actions.

The stewards however decided against punishing Hamilton for the incident although he later saw his eighth-place finish demoted to 16th for a drive-through penalty due to speeding in the pit-lane.

“Lewis was on the inside, a little bit out of control, but I guess they won’t decide anything, because he is not Spanish,” said Alonso later.

“But he ruined the race for a few people, especially Norris, who had a very fast car and he was out in that incident.”

Alonso was later seen emerging from FIA hospitality following a meeting with president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Fernando Alonso has rapidly followed through with his intention to speak to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. He made clear earlier his concerns that driver nationality may be influencing penalties. Just emerged from FIA hospitality accompanied by team boss Mike Krack. pic.twitter.com/rUMopSZdzM

— Scott Mitchell-Malm (@SMitchellF1) May 4, 2024

McLaren’s Norris had his race ended by Alonso’s contact

Hamilton defended himself on the radio and avoided punishment

The 43-year-old had arrived in Miami following a public gripe with the stewards over his 10-second time penalty in the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Alonso then revealed that he avoided attempting to overtake former Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon in Florida for fear of a similar punishment.

He later doubled down on his claim that the nationality of the drivers play an impact in the FIA investigations into on-track incidents.

“I do feel that nationality matters,” he said.

“I will speak with Mohammed (Ben Sulayem, FIA president), with FIA, whatever.

“I need to make sure that there is not anything wrong with my nationality or anything that can influence any decision – not only for me, also for the future generation of Spanish drivers that need to be protected.”

Norris also blamed his fellow Briton for prematurely ending his race.

“Lewis dived up the inside and caused the incident,” Norris told the official F1 channel. “Nothing I could do about that.”

Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport

Related