Lewis Hamilton risks reigniting Fernando Alonso feud with cheap ‘copy’ remark

Hamilton is hopeful that Mercedes can make up ground on Red Bull in 2024 after a dominant campaign that saw Red Bull wrap up the Constructors’ title at the Japanese Grand Prix and Max Verstappen at the Drivers’ Championship in Qatar. 

The Dutchman became the first driver in the history of the sport to break the coveted 500-point barrier while Red Bull smashed Mercedes’ long-standing record for the most amount of points accumulated by a team in a single season with 860.

Hamilton was highly critical of Mercedes’ W14 design but is confident that their 2024 concept will be a big upgrade. “I think we have understood the car so much better. We have developed great tools in the background. So naturally, I’m hopeful, but I’m not going to hold my breath,” he said.

“The thing is with the timeline you have and the limited resources you have, you can’t just throw it away and start from scratch, you can’t copy a car and start from that.

“Look at the Astons, they tried to copy a car, and it wasn’t the same. It is not as easy as that. You have to try and take the good parts and through trial and error just try to add other parts. But you can imagine they are also nervous of making too big a change and it being the wrong one.”

Hamilton and Aston Martin rival Alonso appear to be on good terms now but they haven’t always seen eye to eye. Hamilton teamed up with Alonso during his rookie F1 season for McLaren back in 2007 where their relationship was pushed to boiling point as they battled against each other and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for the F1 crown.

The friction between the pair came to a head during a tense qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix that year. Both drivers butted heads after the Spaniard was penalised for blocking Hamilton’s car in the pit lane, preventing him from completing a final attempt to claim pole position. Alonso left McLaren for Renault a year later after falling out with McLaren chief Ron Dennis.