The director of the Lewis Hamilton team emphasizes the exaggeration of the Spanish Aston Martin driver after the event in Canada
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton starred one of the highlights of the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix harshly criticized for Toto Wolff. Both titans of the steering wheel, world champions, were about to collide in the pit lane. A potential disaster that the Spaniard avoided thanks to an exemplary maneuver. The action, fraught with danger, was investigated by the race management. It seemed that Hamilton would face a five-second penalty, but finally the situation did not escalate.
Later, in full competition, Fernando Alonso demonstrated his superior ability by overtaking Lewis Hamilton with a brilliant maneuver. In the final stretch of the race, and without being able to catch up with Max Verstappen, the Spaniard maintained his position, achieving a creditable second place. In this way, he was only 9 points behind Checo Pérez in the general classification.
Toto Wolf’s reactions
At the end of the race, Toto Wolf, director of Mercedes, He made critical statements towards Fernando Alonso. He considered that the Spaniard had exaggerated his maneuver with Hamilton in an attempt to get the British driver sanctioned. “It was a bit dramatic. Shake the steering a bit and touch the brakes a bit. He’s good at it, the ‘I almost hit him’ screams…a bit of drama,” Wolf said. The broadcast cameras caught Wolf imitating Fernando Alonso, turning the steering wheel from one side to the other.
After the race, Fernando Alonso took stock of the day: “We expected to be able to put a better face on Red Bull. We lost a position at the start with Lewis, and then I had to fight with the Mercedes and Lewis was pushing the whole race, so I didn’t have a lap where I could relax, it was a great battle”. Alonso did not mention the incident with Lewis Hamilton, and both drivers even joked after their close competition.
Heading to Austria to get the 33
Fernando Alonso is focused on achieving victory number 33, and its next opportunity is in Austria, where the Aston Martin might be a better fit than in Canada. “Austria can better adapt to our package of improvements”, declared the Spaniard. The main challenge will be the format of the race, since Austria will be the second circuit of the world championship in which the start will be in sprint.
In the first sprint race of the season, Azerbaijan, Fernando Alonso had to settle for fourth place, which shows that the Aston Martin finds it more advantageous to start standing than in circulation. However, Austria presents an opportunity for Alonso to adapt to the improvements to his car and continue aspiring to victory, a first position that seems to be getting closer to reality.