Alonso: Hamilton penalty was deserved
Double world champion Fernando Alonso believes Lewis Hamilton deserved the penalty that cost the McLaren driver victory in the Belgian Grand Prix
Alonso said he fully supported the FIA stewards' decision to hit Hamilton with a 25-second penalty, which handed victory to Felipe Massa, because he felt there was no doubt he gained an advantage.
"Yes, I totally agree," he said of the stewards' decision. "Lewis had an advantage by doing that. If he did the chicane properly, he would never have crossed the line one metre behind Kimi. You lose five or ten metres and then you cannot overtake in Turn 1.
"We always said we would give back the position, but at the same time as giving back the position you cannot take advantage of what you did one corner before. If you give back the position, take the slipstream and overtake the guy into the next corner you still have an advantage because of what you did.
"These escape roads are just for safety. You need to imagine that before there would have been a wall, and if there is a wall you cannot use that part of the track."
The Spaniard added that his former teammate should have hung back and taken the chance to overtake Raikkonen later in the race.
"There were two or three laps to the end, many more corners to overtake at with the condition of the circuit. It was clear for me that it was not the right moment to overtake. The stewards take their decisions and they have been very strict this year. They are very hard but consistent."
Alonso added that he was not surprised McLaren opted to protest the decision.
"No," he said when asked by autosport.com whether he was surprised about the their appeal. "They did this last year and they always used to do this kind of thing."
Alonso also believes that Hamilton's penalty could have helped him to claim his first win of the season had he opted to pit for wet tyres a lap earlier.
"I think winning the race was possible because Massa won the race at the end and finished nine seconds ahead of Nick Heidfeld. I was quite a bit ahead of Heidfeld - more than nine seconds - so maybe I could have overtaken Massa at that point and then maybe with Lewis's penalty I would have won the race."
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Fernando Alonso , Lewis Hamilton |
| Author | Edd Straw |
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