Lewis Hamilton finds new ally as Alonso points finger at ‘anti-Fernando car’
Lewis Hamilton (40) and Fernando Alonso (44) are the oldest drivers on the F1 2025 grid
Fernando Alonso has branded the McLaren he raced during his explosive F1 2007 season with Lewis Hamilton as an “anti-Fernando car” following to his struggles to adapt.
It comes in the midst of Hamilton’s difficulties in adjusting to the Ferrari SF-25 during the F1 2025 season.
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Alonso and Hamilton spent a single season as McLaren teammates in 2007, a year best remembered for the infamous ‘Spygate’ scandal.
The affair, which saw confidential Ferrari technical information acquired by a McLaren employee, resulted in the Woking-based team being hit with a record $100million fine and exclusion from that year’s Constructors’ championship.
Hamilton and Alonso both missed out on the Drivers’ title by a single point as Ferrari star Kimi Raikkonen triumphed at the season finale in Brazil.
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Alonso arrived at McLaren in 2007 as the reigning double World Champion having claimed consecutive titles with Renault in 2005/06.
Despite winning on his second start for McLaren in Malaysia, Alonso initially struggled to adjust to the MP4-22 car with the pace of a 22-year-old Hamilton, in his debut season, proving too hot to handle.
Having become accustomed to Hitco brakes at Renault, Alonso experienced difficulties with the Carbon Industrie braking materials used by McLaren.
The team eventually decided to switch Alonso’s car to Hitco brakes during the 2007 season to help his adaptation to his new surroundings.
Alonso faced the additional challenge of having to adjust to Bridgestone tyres at McLaren following previous Renault supplier Michelin’s withdrawal from F1 at the end of the 2006 season.
Last month marked two decades since Alonso claimed the first of his two World Championships by finishing third at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix.
And the Spaniard has rejected the suggestion that he has never had a car that does not suit his preferred driving style, pointing to the 2007 McLaren as an “anti-Fernando car.”
Alonso claimed that the use of Bridgestone tyres in GP2 (now F2), the Formula 1 feeder series won by Hamilton prior to his graduation to F1 with McLaren, gave his rookie teammate an immediate advantage at the start of 2007.
He told Spanish outlet AS: “Surely there were some [cars unsuited to me], but that’s an excuse that doesn’t work.
“You have to adapt because cars change and rules change.
“Without going any further, as soon as the second World Championship ended, I had an ‘anti-Fernando’ car in 2007.
“The tyres were Bridgestone, which were the same ones used in GP2 at the time, so all the drivers who moved up from GP2 [like Hamilton] suddenly had very good performance.
“Now there’s a lot of talk about the return of Pirelli tyres [in 2011], but even then there was a very different way of warming them up and it was completely unknown territory.
“I’ve suffered for a few years, but that’s the way it is.”
Ferrari’s brakes have emerged as a major obstacle in Hamilton’s attempts to adjust to his new team in F1 2025.
Hamilton used Carbon Industrie brakes during his 12-year stint with previous team Mercedes, with which he claimed all but one of his joint-record seven World Championships.
Ferrari, however, has a long-term partnership in place with industry rivals Brembo stretching back to 1975.
It emerged after Hamilton’s first on-track run with Ferrari at the team’s Fiorano test track in January that the 40-year-old had identified the brakes as an area of concern.
Ferrari’s Brembo brakes, as well as the team’s unique engine-braking system, is also believed to have contributed to Hamilton’s strange spin at the Belgian Grand Prix in July.
Hamilton spun at the Bus Stop chicane on his final lap of SQ1 in sprint qualifying, leaving him 18th on the grid for the mini race at Spa.
The seven-time World Champion pointed to a mysterious “new component” on his car, first used by teammate Charles Leclerc at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, as the cause of his mistake.
PlanetF1.com revealed in the aftermath of the Belgian Grand Prix that Hamilton was referring to a new combination of Brembo discs and pads.
More on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari from PlanetF1.com
Hamilton’s understanding of the Ferrari brakes appears to have improved over recent weeks in light of more encouraging performances in Italy and Azerbaijan, two circuits featuring significant braking episodes.
Hamilton was closer to the pace of Leclerc at Monza, topping the opening practice session and lapping just 0.117 seconds slower in qualifying before serving a five-place grid penalty for a safety breach at the previous race in the Netherlands.
He was also ahead of Leclerc in two of the three practice sessions in Baku, posting the fastest time of all in Friday’s FP2 session.
Hamilton failed to carry his improved pace into qualifying in Azerbaijan, where he could only manage 12th on the grid.
He employed an alternative strategy on race day in Baku with Leclerc agreeing to swap positions with his teammate to allow Hamilton to attack the cars ahead in the closing stages.
However, Leclerc was left frustrated after Hamilton failed to return the place before the chequered flag despite making an attempt to slow on the approach to the finish.
Despite insisting that he did not “care” about finishing eighth on a disappointing weekend for Ferrari in general, Leclerc indicated that Hamilton had not respected Ferrari’s rules by failing to return the position.
As revealed by PlanetF1.com, Leclerc was heard describing the botched swap as “stupid” and “not fair” over team radio on the cooldown lap.
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