It was arguably one of the most enticing Monaco Grand Prix in recent history. There was chaos even before the race began and it continued till the very end. One of the most engaging aspects of the race was when Fernando Alonso decided to hold up Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after the red flag restarted.
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The 2 times world champion was deliberately driving slowly, which frustrated his former teammate. His antics worked, as he was able to keep his 7th place at the end of the race from the 7-time world champion. But his driving did not stand well with the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who called out the Alpine driver.
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Toto Wolff criticizes the two-time world champion for his driving in Monaco
Wolff compared Fernando’s driving standards to Formula 2 and also pointed out the deficiencies of Monaco as a racing track. The Austrian was not one bit pleased with the result and Hamilton’s situation in the race.
Formula One F1 – Monaco Grand Prix – Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco – May 29, 2022 Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in action during the race REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
“Five seconds is like a Formula 2 car. This is such a spectacle here, a fantastic venue, and it is always amazing to be here. But we need to maybe look in a way at the layout where we can basically close the loop for going five seconds slower and cars still can’t overtake,” said Wolff.
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Toto mentioned without Fernando holding Lewis in the second half of the race, the British driver would have been on par with his teammate George Russell. Russell finished the race in P5 just ahead of Lando in P6.
Fernando Alonso replies to Mercedes team boss’s criticism
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While the two-time world champion enjoyed keeping his former teammate behind, he revealed that he wasn’t bothered about Hamilton’s progress in the race. He revealed he was managing his tires and his own race. Moreover, he also cheekily mentioned that it was easy for him to keep the Mercedes driver behind.
Formula One F1 – Spanish Grand Prix – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain – May 20, 2022, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso during a press conference REUTERS/Nacho Doce
“It was easy, extremely easy,” said Alonso, on keeping Lewis behind. “It wasn’t my problem. In the first place, I don’t think we had tires or that the life of the tire was enough to finish the race with 33 laps to go.”
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DIVE DEEPER
It seems like Wolff is just complaining that the results did not turn out in his team’s favor. But Alonso did things he wanted in order to finish ahead of Hamilton. It was interesting to see how Fernando reacted to Wolff’s comments and gave a very prompt answer.
