F1 expert Martin Brundle thought the Monaco GP had shown that his former teammates Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton still have some tension.
Hamilton found himself behind Alonso in his final stage at the Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton felt increasingly frustrated with Alonso’s pace in 7th place as Lando Norris moved away quickly.
Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also took part in the event, claiming that Alonso was driving at the pace of “Formula 2”.
Alonso repressed himself amid criticism, expressing frustration at teammate Esteban Ocon getting stuck behind Hamilton once Alonso started pushing, at which point Hamilton did not do the same.
Ocon had taken a five-second penalty after colliding with Hamilton early in the race, so with the extra time applied, he dropped points from P9 to P12.
The Alonso-Hamilton rivalry dates back to his days as a McLaren teammate in 2007, Brundle suspects there is still some “needle” from that season.
“[Lando] Norris had the luxury of making an extra stop because behind him Fernando Alonso went into a constant but necessary mode of tire preservation, with the rest of the field in line behind him, starting with a very frustrated Lewis Hamilton “Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports F1 Column.
“This is not my problem,” said Fernando, “and you can’t help but feel that there is still a long way to go between them after their 2007 McLaren season as teammates.
“Then Fernando took off for a while in a strange way and made the third fastest lap of the race to keep the 7th position.”
There were no frustrations or fights for Hamilton’s teammate in Mercedes, George Russell, who after pitting his compatriot Norris into the pits, ran to score a P5.
“George Russell made another good push for Mercedes to take fifth place,” Brundle said.
“He finished just two tenths ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who also got the fastest lap with his new middle tires, installed on lap 51 of what became a shortened 64-lap race and timed (instead of the 78 scheduled) in a curious time elapsed from one hour and fifty-six and a half minutes of running “.
Russell then put his account for the season at 84 points, putting him 34 ahead of Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Alonso went to 10 for the season before the next round in Baku.