Things were heated on the race track between Alpine driver Fernando Alonso and Mercedes stalwart Lewis Hamilton during the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend. Hamilton, the seven-time champion, was forced to retire after colliding with Alonso on the outside of Les Combes on just the first lap of the race.
Fortunately for the Spaniard, Alonso was able to escape the collision unscathed, finishing fifth. But at the heat of the moment, he was infuriated, seemingly baffled by Hamilton's decision to attempt a risky pass. On the team radio, Fernando Alonso went as far as to call Hamilton an “idiot”. But he later alluded to a bigger problem, perhaps prejudice, with regards to the coverage of drivers of different nationalities.
“It made a huge thing,” Alonso said. “First of all, it’s Lewis – he’s a champion, he’s a legend of our time. And then when you say something – and I’m sorry to repeat this – against a British driver, there is a huge media involvement after that.”
Fernando Alonso surmised that Latin drivers don't receive the same preferential treatment. For his part, he argues that drivers of non-Latin descent don't receive the same amount of backlash Alonso received after his heated lapse of judgment during the race.
“They’ve been saying a lot of things to Checo [Sergio Perez], to Carlos [Sainz], to me. If you say something to a Latin driver, everything is a little bit more fun. When you say something to others, it’s a little bit more serious,” Alonso added.
Still, everything might be a moot point now. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have since squashed the beef, with the two even posing for a picture together. Nonetheless, Alonso's remarks should make media practitioners re-think their biases so they could give every driver the same treatment regardless of race.
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