At McLaren they were the best of enemies, but as their careers have gone in separate directions, the frosty relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso has thawed with time.
They will never be best buddies but a mutual respect has emerged. Indeed, Hamilton perhaps has more in common with Alonso now that the Spaniard is with Ferrari than he ever did when they were under the same garage roof.
Destined to lose out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for the second year running, the duo share the common goal of making sure the German is not victorious for a third successive season.
Despite such similarities, however, Hamilton’s frustrations at not being able to add to the world championship he won in 2008 have provoked on and off track controversies this season. But Alonso has kept his emotions in check, coming to terms with the fact his pursuit of a third drivers’ title will have to wait for another season. ‘It is a process you have to deal with,’ said Alonso ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
‘It is frustrating when you are at your best in the sport, or you think you are better. I am sure that Lewis thinks he is a better driver now than in 2008 when he won the title. But now he maybe doesn’t have the car, the luck or not everything coming together to win the championship. It is the same for me, you try to learn as many things as possible in these difficult times to be a better driver for the next opportunity.’
Alonso, like Hamilton, excelled in the junior ranks before making the step up to Formula One. And like his former team-mate, he has had to learn the harsh lesson that you simply cannot win all the time at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Alonso said: ‘When you arrive in Formula One it is because you have won in all the smaller categories. You won in go-karts, Formula Three, and GP2. Then you arrive in F1 and you win in the first couple of years and maybe you think that you need to keep winning.
‘Everybody else thinks the same because all the drivers have won in small categories. You need time to realise that only one can win.’
Even so, the pressure which drivers of the calibre of Alonso and Hamilton place on themselves and the outside level of expectation that comes with driving for teams of the size of Ferrari and McLaren remains enormous.
‘There is lots of pressure from the team and the media attention,’ says Alonso. ‘There are a lot of sponsors, huge budgets, all the mechanics, the expectation. All of it is on your shoulders.’
To help deal with such pressures, Alonso took the decision to quit the tax-haven of Switzerland, where Hamilton currently resides, to return home to Asturias in northern Spain - a move which reportedly cost him in the region of £50million.
A price worth paying it seems. ‘I missed my family and all the things I had done all my life,’ says Alonso. ‘Every time I went to Asturias it was for one week and the days were busy.
‘I realised, “Why do I have to take this one week holiday every two months?”. I could go there and have a good quality of life and be with my people.’
Even so, Alonso feels equally at home at Ferrari’s huge Maranello complex in Italy. Having signed on until 2016 with the iconic team, he will be 35 by the time his contract comes to an end. Alonso at Ferrari is certainly a perfect fit. Such is the popularity of Ferrari globally that even those who disliked Alonso during his tumultuous season with McLaren and Hamilton have softened their stance.
The applause he received when jogging down the Silverstone pits straight this year having missed the drivers’ parade bus is a case in point. ‘When you win you are the bad guy for 90 per cent of the people,’ he reasoned.
‘When you win there are more problems.’
Problems neither he nor Hamilton can do without.
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Originally Posted by NJB13
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