Lewis Hamilton will hope his harmonious relationship with Charles Leclerc at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend doesn’t devolve like his partnership with Fernando Alonso did. Formula One returns to the Hungaroring racetrack on Sunday, the location where the Ferrari star has claimed a record eight victories.
It’s been a fruitful track for Hamilton throughout his illustrious racing career, but it was the scene of an infamous controversy between the seven-time champion and Alonso during their time at McLaren.
The chaos ensued in the qualifying session of the 2007 race in Budapest when the Spaniard was cautioned for blocking Hamilton’s car in the pit lane.
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The two-time world champion’s move prevented the rookie Hamilton from completing a final attempt to snatch pole position from his team-mate.
An investigation was then sparked with stewards slapping Alonso – who earned pole – with a five-place grid drop, promoting Hamilton onto pole with Alonso left to start at P6.
McLaren were also told they’d score zero Constructors’ Championship points for the race and they wouldn’t be publicly presented with a winning Constructors’ trophy on the podium if Hamilton or Alonso were to win the race.
The Brit ended up winning as the drama eventually concluded with Alonso stunningly leaving the team at the end of the season.
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Speaking after the tense qualifying session, Alonso explained: “No-one heard my version, or the truth, or the facTS. I said that I never hold anyone.
They just gave me old tyres when it was qualifying.
So there is the radio transcript, the decision from the stewards, where it is written that they put me a penalty on an article that didn’t exist.
“They just put the penalty but clarified it was not for any article.
And things like that.
And it was my team putting a protest against myself, which is the first time in the history of the sport.
So when you put all these kinds of things and you don’t see the facts, obviously it is difficult to clarify some misunderstandings.”
Alonso’s annoyance came from Hamilton ignoring team requests to let him past in the opening laps of qualifying.
Hamilton was let out of the garage first, which went against McLaren’s plan.
Almost 20 years on from the race, Hamilton sits second in the Drivers’ Standings with Alonso a lowly 18th with just one point earned so far this season.
