Fernando Alonso given backing in Lewis Hamilton feud

Fernando Alonso has been backed by two-time F1 world title winner Emerson Fittipaldi over his dispute with Lewis Hamilton. Alonso and Hamilton came to blows ahead of last month’s Mexican Grand Prix when the Spaniard suggested the Mercedes ace’s championship wins are worth less than Max Verstappen’s title victories as he only had to fight with his own team-mates for success due to the superior performance of the Silver Arrows car over the years.

“Fernando is correct,” Fittipaldi told Vegas Insider. “Max Verstappen has had to compete with more drivers than Lewis Hamilton. [It’s] very difficult to analyse but the point that Fernando mentioned has merit because now it is extremely competitive. Much more than when Lewis was winning the championships – that was against his team-mate.

“Now you have Max, who is against a lot of different people. If you think about it, yes, Fernando is correct. The level, the gap among the top five cars in any qualifying this year is very close. Much closer than when Lewis and Nico [Rosberg] or Lewis and [Valtteri] Bottas were there. They were quite superior to the field. Now the field is very close. I like it now.”

Hamilton has won a joint-record seven world titles alongside legendary driver Michael Schumacher. But his powers appear to be waning as Verstappen has started to dominate. Verstappen toppled Hamilton on the final race of last season to claim his maiden championship trophy, before backing that up with another title win this season.

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Alonso’s remarks led Hamilton to hit back as the Briton took to social media to post a picture of himself and the Spaniard standing on the podium at the 2007 US Grand Prix. Hamilton had won the race and included a thumbs-up emoji next to the picture.

And when asked for his response to Alonso in Mexico, the Stevenage-born ace said: “I gave you it. That’s my thumbs up. I don’t really have a lot to say about it – it does make me giggle a little bit to be honest.

“But I have tried to be really respectful over the years and, for example, when you’ve ever asked me about who has been the better driver for me, I’ve always tried to give praise. It’s definitely interesting to see the comments that are made, but it doesn’t really matter. So that’s why I just gave the thumbs up.”