NASCAR Cup Series

Alonso, Hamilton renew old tensions at European GP

Published Jun. 30, 2010 12:39 p.m. ET

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The tensions that marked the relationship between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton when they were McLaren teammates in 2007 have flared up following the European Grand Prix.

Alonso said the race in Valencia on Sunday had been ``manipulated,'' and his Ferrari team labeled it ``a scandal.'' Hamilton, meanwhile, has said Alonso is upset because of his poor showing.

Alonso was in third, a place behind Hamilton, when the safety car came on after a spectacular crash involving Mark Webber on the ninth lap.

Hamilton overtook the safety car and was handed a drive-through sanction, but managed to hold onto second behind winner Sebastian Vettel.

Alonso, however, slipped down the field to finish ninth, before moving up to eighth after race stewards handed time penalties to several drivers for infringements.

The Ferrari driver said there was too much of a delay - 15 laps - before Hamilton was penalized, allowing the McLaren driver to build up a substantial gap on the other cars before taking the drive-through penalty.

``Hamilton overtook the safety car, something that I had never seen, overtaking the medical car with yellow flags,'' Alonso said. ``We were a meter off each other, and he finished second and I finished ninth. It's a shame, not for us because this is racing, but for all the fans who came here to watch a manipulated race.''

In a statement Sunday, Hamilton responded by saying: ``I took my penalty ... and I came out second. ... I don't see how that's unfair.''

The episode between the drivers echoes the 2007 season, when Alonso and Hamilton had highly publicized tensions as teammates at McLaren. Alonso - the reigning world champion at the time - believed Hamilton was getting preferential treatment from the British team and he left for Renault at the end of the season. After two dismal years with the French team, the Spaniard departed for Ferrari.

The Italian team backed its driver on its website, saying: ``A scandal, that's the opinion of so many fans and employees who are all in agreement: there is no other way to describe what happened during the European Grand Prix.

``The way the race and the incidents during it were managed raise doubts that could see Formula 1 lose some credibility again, as it was seen around the world.''

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said the handling of the issue was ``unacceptable'' and that it has created ``dangerous precedents.''

Since Sunday, Hamilton has said that Alonso's outburst stems from frustration over his poor showing in the race.

``I saw him overtaken by a Sauber. He must have been completely in another world,'' the Briton said, referring to Alonso being passed by Kamui Kobayashi near the end of the race. ``It's very unlike him to be overtaken by a Sauber.''

Hamilton added: ``I don't understand why I affected his race so much. Everyone has a right to their opinion, and he must be disappointed with his own result, but I didn't do anything to him.''

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali downplayed Alonso's talk of the race being ``manipulated,'' saying the driver had been ``in a hot moment,'' and Alonso apologized Tuesday on the Ferrari website for criticizing race stewards.

However, the sport's governing body, the FIA, appears to have responded to Ferrari's request to revise the regulations concerning the safety car, calling a meeting of the Sporting Working Group to go through the issues ahead of the British Grand Prix on July 11.

Hamilton leads the drivers' standings with 127 points, ahead of teammate Jenson Button on 121. Alonso is fifth with 98 points.

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