With the World Championship of drivers and teams already sentenced in favor of Max Verstappen y Red Bull, Formula 1 is looking for new incentives and trying to promote other fights on the grid. One of the most attractive, although less balanced than months ago, is the one that pits the two oldest pilots with the best track record against each other: Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Both compete for third place in the championship, in an emotional battle that continues this weekend in Mexico.
The British (3rd) and the Spanish (4th) are separated by 18 points in the standings with four grand prizes remaining. In Austin neither of them scored. Alonso He could have been sixth and completed a spectacular comeback starting from the pit lane, but five laps from the end he was forced to retire due to a ‘destroy’ in the flat bottom of his Aston Martin. Hamilton finished closer than ever to the champion Verstappen (2 seconds away) and got on the podium, but after the race he was disqualified. The stewards, in compliance with the regulations, detected that the wear on the floor of the Mercedes exceeded the permitted limit.
To ‘warm up’ the Hamilton-Alonso duelFormula 1 has shared on its social networks a video that recalls the epic face-to-face battle that took place in the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix. Alonso was driving a McLaren that at that time was the ninth car on the grid, but still He put Hamilton, who had the fastest car in the hybrid era, on the ropes, a Mercedes that would end up winning eight constructors’ titles.
Alonso ⚔️ Hamilton
Fernando and Lewis served up a spicy battle back in 2017! ????️#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/VfflfxSNOy
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 25, 2023
The two pilots fear and respect each other in equal measure. Their historic rivalry, forged in the turbulent 2007 season, when they were teammates at McLarenwas diluted as Hamilton began to be unbeatable with Mercedes and the Asturian chained disappointments with the teams he chose, to the point of moving away from the Gran Circo for two seasons, to return in 2021 with Alpine.
This year, Alonso and Hamilton have once again found themselves in more equal conditions, especially at the beginning of the year, when Fernando He chained six podiums. His battles on the track sparked again, with overtakings that were ‘impossible’ and at the highest level. But while the AMR23 has been losing steam since the summer break, the W14 has gained prominence. It’s been a while since Mercedes snatched second place in the constructors’ table from Aston Martin. and in fact in Austin those from Silverstone fell to fifth place in teams, surpassed by McLaren, but Alonso still hopes to say goodbye to the season with good feelings if Aston Martin manages to make the update pack it introduced in the United States work.
“When we made the changes, the car felt much better to drive and I think our race on Sunday really showed that the improvements were working. I had much more grip, especially in the corners, and that allowed me to overtake cars that had been difficult for us to overtake in the last few races.. There is still optimization work to be done, and having more training time in Mexico will help us, but I am convinced that Are we heading in the right direction“, predicts the companion of Alonso, Lance Stroll, who finished seventh in Austin with the new configuration, after leaving the pit lane.
Mercedes’ jump unbalances the fight
After an erratic start to the season, Mercedes has managed to react and each of The improvements introduced in the car since the Monaco Grand Prix have meant a step forward from the W14. In Austin, despite his disqualification, Hamilton was closer than ever to victory this year. The seven-time champion, however, made a positive reading despite the cold water that came with his disqualification: “It doesn’t take away from our progress,” he highlighted.
This weekend at the Autódromo de los Hermanos Rodríguez, Lewis will have an excellent opportunity to try again. Last year he was second on the podium and his teammate George Russell finished fourth in one of the best weekends for those from Brackley. If Mercedes gets it right again with the car’s set-up, Hamilton can break a drought of victories that has lasted almost two years, since December 2021 in Arabia.
2023-10-26 19:42:38
#HamiltonAlonso #emotional #pulse #Mexico
