Ex-F1 driver Martin Brundle has criticised Fernando Alonso's comments after the Spaniard made contact with Lewis Hamilton on Lap 1 of the Belgian Grand Prix. Having started third and fourth, Alonso and Hamilton were dicing for second place going into the Les Combes chicane, when Hamilton, unsighted, tried to go around the outside of Alonso and shut the door on the Spaniard. The pair then touched, vaulting Hamilton's W13 into the air and bringing it crashing down, causing damage that would see the Briton retire that lap. Speaking after the race, Hamilton acknowledged that he had not left Alonso enough room and accepted the blame for the incident. By contrast, Alonso reported no damage to his Alpine, and was able to continue to finish the race in fifth place, but had some heated comments about Hamilton's move at the time. "What an idiot, closing the door from the outside," Alonso had radioed to his team. "I mean, we had a mega start, but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first [on the grid]."
Brundle slams Alonso's criticism
Though Alonso backtracked on those comments once the race had ended, Brundle was critical of the Spaniard's choice of words. The Briton also referenced Hamilton's lack of involvement in incidents throughout his F1 career, as well as his charge through the field in both F1 Sprint and Grand Prix last year in Brazil. "Fernando's radio comments about Lewis only being able to win from the front were, in my opinion, wholly inaccurate and unfair," Brundle wrote in his column for Sky F1 . "Lewis is one of the fairest and cleanest drivers in the history of F1, he hasn't needed to resort to too many professional fouls given his relentless speed, and just cast your mind back to Brazil last year to remember how he can scythe through the field. Twice. "That error of judgement will have caught Lewis's attention."
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