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Dennis & Alonso: Nothing wrong with Spa start

Ron Dennis and Fernando Alonso have both defended the Spanish driver s aggressive start to the Belgian Grand Prix. At the first corner, Fernando Alonso pushed his team-mate Lewis Hamilton out wide, forcing him off the track at the exit of the La Source hairpin.

Lewis Hamilton was unhappy at the move stating, “I started to accelerate and all of a sudden Fernando came sweeping across me, and he knew I was there so… I wouldn t say fair but it was hard. For someone that is always complaining about people doing unfair manoeuvres and wanting to be fair and someone I look up to, he has gone and swiped me and pushed me as wide as he could. I was just really lucky there was a run-off area so I could take that.”

Later in the day, Hamilton calmed down and explained, “I think it is something that it is best I speak personally to Fernando about. I felt there was enough room for all of us to get around but somehow I ran out of road. It is up to you to decide what happened.”

Fernando Alonso believes that his move was fair. “Before anything else, I want to make clear that I don t want to argue and that I am fine with what everybody has to say,” he began. “Let s make that clear before anything else.

“At the start I tried to keep my position. I saw that Massa had locked his wheel d a bit and I was hoping to pass him, but then he recovered well and I couldn t do it. Thin I tried to go wide to have a good exit. I saw Lewis on the outside and that, instead of lifting, he used the part that s not the circuit, the safety part, to continue flat out and end up side by side with me.

“From there, I thought sooner or later he would let me pass I thought he was going to lift before Eau Rouge and that s why I kept going flat out. Maybe on television it seemed spectacular but from inside the car, it s a different world. I didn t have to do anything it s just physics and logic. If you are doing Eau Rouge round the outside, you have to lift the throttle.”

Ron Dennis agrees Alonso. “There was absolutely no problem,” Dennis explained. “There is nothing wrong with what happened on the opening lap. If they had been rival teams then everyone would have had no problems with it but obviously they are competing team-mates so people put a greater spotlight on it. But is is fine!”

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