Fernando Alonso has claimed that Lewis Hamilton escaped a penalty from the Formula 1 stewards after a collision between both drivers during the Miami Grand Prix sprint race because he is not Spanish.
Hamilton dived down the inside of Alonso on the first lap of Saturday’s sprint, forcing the Spaniard into his teammate Lance Stroll, who in turn collided with Lando Norris.
Stroll and Norris were early retirements, while Alonso suffered a puncture that dropped him further down the grid.
Two-time world champion Alonso was already frustrated with F1 stewards heading into Miami after he picked up a 10-second time penalty in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race. He now believes he is being targeted because of his nationality.
“We’ll see what they decide. I guess they won’t decide anything, because he’s not Spanish,” Alonso said after the sprint race.
“But, I think he ruined the race for a few people, especially Norris, who had a very fast car and he was out in that incident.”
Alonso added that he will speak with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on the need to protect a driver’s nationality.
“I do feel that nationality matters, and I will speak with Mohammed [Ben Sulayem], with the FIA, whatever,” the 42-year-old stated.
“I need to make sure there is not anything wrong with my nationality or anything that can influence any decision – not only for me but also for the future generation of the Spanish drivers. They need to be protected.”
The F1 stewards ruled that Hamilton avoided a penalty as they could not “identify one or more drivers wholly or predominantly to blame for the various collisions or any one of them.”
Ready for race day in Miami 😎
Here's your #MiamiGP starting grid! 🌴#F1 pic.twitter.com/IGqOI4M2sL
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2024
The seven-time world champion finished seventh in the sprint race but was hit with a post-race drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane which dropped him down to 16th.
Hamilton however had no penalty issues in qualifying, finishing inside the top 10 and will start Sunday’s race in eighth place.
