The situation between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso is starting to look like the Senna-Prost rivalry all over again.
The Hungarian GP marked the sixth win of McLaren out of 11 races so far. Such result should have been a morale booster for the team. With all the uncertainty surrounding the squad’s near future (especially now that an International Court Appeal date has been set), every good result should at least be a respite from the stresses of being under scrutiny. Unfortunately, Hamilton’s win was hardly a cause for celebration. If ever, it only heightened the tension between the two McLaren drivers.
Although there were signs of conflict during the first half of the season, it seemed that such issues were minor. But after the events of the Qualifying sessions of the Hungarian GP, it was apparent that there definitely was a serious problem. Hamilton refused to follow team-orders to give Alonso track position during Q3 because supposedly, Alonso was going to enter the pits first. By the time the drivers had to make their pit-stops, the team was already out-of-synch. Twice Alonso had an extended stop in an attempt to have a traffic free lap. But in doing so, Hamilton was held up and wasn’t able to make one more qualifying run. Alonso was able to snatch pole position by beating Hamilton’s previous time. But because of their antics, Alonso was accused by the officials for impeding his teammate and hence was dropped to sixth on the grid. To make matters worse, Mclaren was also given a penalty that it would not gain any constructor’s points because of the events that transpired during qualifying. The latter ruling however is currently under appeal.
It seems that once again, history has repeated itself. It wasn’t too long ago when McLaren signed Ayrton Senna to partner Alain Prost for the 1988 season. By 1989, both were bitter rivals. The ‘clash of the titans’ became literal when the two collided in the season ending race in Suzuka during the ‘89 Japanese GP. Prost retired. Senna however was pushed back on track, entered the pits to change his damaged front wing, and raced on to cross the line in first place. Unfortunately for Senna, his result was nullified since he had received assistance from the track marshals thus handing the championship to Prost who was leading the standings. Although Prost joined Ferrari for the 1990 season, the Senna-Prost rivalry remained. And for the second consecutive year, the two controversially collided once again in the season ending race in Suzuka. Both retired without even clearing the first corner. Senna of course won the championship since he was leading the standings prior to the race.
The Senna-Prost rivalry was heated because both drivers wanted to win with neither one backing down. The situation is very similar between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
But as bad as the feud was back then, McLaren Boss Ron Dennis has even claimed that Hamilton-Alonso conflict is even worse. It’s difficult enough that Hamilton and Alonso are at odds with one another, it’s even harder trying to contain all the rumors in the internet that escalate the matter.
Indeed, it is a tough time for McLaren. They currently lead the Constructors standings with both of their drivers first and second in the championship standings. But despite their dominant success so far this season, the team is still undergoing crisis. Even in victory, controversy still plagues the team.
