Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had quite a start to the Belgian GP as the two drivers passed second-placed Sergio Perez soon after the lights off. The Mercedes and Alpine drivers were pushing for second place when the two made contact with each other at Les Combes during the opening lap of the race. Hamilton managed to stay just ahead of Alonso up the Kemmel Straight and moved on the outside of the right-hander to stay ahead.
Soon after, the Briton shut the door on Alonso, who was on the inside, and the two made contact. This resulted in Lewis W13\’s taking a huge lunge above the ground and smashing right on the tarmac. Alonso managed to continue on without much damage, while Hamilton had no choice but to stop his W13 due to a suspected water leak. It was Lewis\’s first retirement of the season, and Alonso was not quite happy about it. Fernando Alonso was heard on the team radio saying, \”What an idiot closing the door from the outside. We had a mega start but the guy only knows hot to drive and start in first.\”
FIA Clears Hamilton & Alonso Without Any Penalty
The FIA stewards investigated the incident with the video evidence available. Hamilton took responsibility for the incident and suggested that Fernando was in his blind spot. Moreover, the sport\’s regulatory body decided not to penalize the drivers for the incident, and no further actions were taken. The FIA stated that the stewards reviewed the video evidence, which revealed that Alonso was on the inside at turn 5.
Meanwhile, Hamilton\’s front wheels were ahead of Alonso at the corner\’s entry. Fernando moved his car off the line to the inside, and both his right tires were inside the curb. The FIA added that Alonso did not seem to lose control or understeer at any point while Hamilton turned towards the apex with Alonso on his side when the collision occurred. The Stewards decided that the first lap incident with a lot of relative movement to other cars in initial corners. Hence, no further action was taken on the matter.
Further, Hamilton also refused to visit the Event Medical Service after the Lap 1 incident after the Medical Warning Light exceeded the threshold. The race director eventually warned Mercedes that Hamilton could face some consequences if he did not go. Moreover, Hamilton also commented on Alonso\’s idiot remarks after the collision. The Briton did not have a response to Fernando\’s words. However, he stated that it was nice to know how Alonso felt about him. Lewis claimed that the move was not intentional and took full responsibility for it.
