Lewis Hamilton has reached out — it sounds via text message, and isn’t that ironic! — to clear the air with Fernando Alonso following their slight word exchange after the European Grand Prix.
Autosport has some details for us:
Keen to not let matters drag on, Hamilton has revealed that he has been in contact with the Spaniard since the event to sort the situation out.
“We are in touch,” Hamilton told the Reuters news agency. “He has my number and I have his number. We messaged the other day, things are cool.
“I just messaged him to see how he was doing and he said everything’s cool and he knows how the racing world works and this is a tough year.”
So, we can put that behind us, I guess. At least until the next time the two touch wheels.
But that’s not what really caught my eye today. This did:
Renault’s sporting director Steve Nielsen said Fernando Alonso’s return to the team in 2008 was a mistake.
[snip]
“We know what happened [at McLaren], and he came back,” Nielsen said. “I actually think it was probably a mistake. I don’t know if he agrees with me but he knows I love him.
“If I had been his manager at the time, I would have told him ‘Listen, you have to stay and beat this guy [Lewis Hamilton]’. ‘Firstly because you have the best car now, secondly because your best chance to be champion next year is to stay at McLaren.”
So that raises an obvious question: Should Fernando have stuck it out at McLaren? And is your opinion of him at all colored by his not sticking around to fight it out with Hamilton in 2008?
