Fernando Alonso backs old foe Lewis Hamilton over stewards lie row

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/motorsport-news/2009/05/08/fernando-alonso-backs-old-foe-lewis-hamilton-over-stewards-lie-row-86908-21341467/

May 8 2009 Frank Haynes

LEWIS Hamilton found an unlikely supporter yesterday as he continued to stew in the aftermath of Liegate.

The tarnished Formula One world champion even stooped to frying a Spanish omelette - a stunt ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Barcelona - in a desperate bid to endear himself to the media.

But the day's biggest surprise was cooked up by Fernando Alonso, the two-time former title holder who spent most of 2007 *****ing at Hamilton when the pair were McLaren team-mates.

The hatchet appeared well and truly buried when the Spaniard insisted Hammy was a good guy despite being caught blatantly lying to stewards in Australia and Malaysia.

That landed rattled McLaren a suspended three-race ban but Alonso, now with Renault, said: "Lewis has always been a great driver and is a great champion.

"He fought for the world title in his first season in Formula One and won it in the second.

"So to help his reputation that is damaged now it is very easy - just keep winning. He will make hissupportershappy.

"That is very important. To do our job, to give the maximum in the car, win races, titles, that's the best thing you can do."

Alonso looked back on their troubled season together and said: "We had good competition that helped each other to find our limits.

"I miss that competition in a way because it was fun to push and find new limits for ourselves.

"The problems I had at McLaren were with the big bosses and the philosophy of the team which is why I decided to move on."

Hamilton may have been coerced into lying by axed McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan but the wholesome image he once nurtured was still shot to pieces.

Even motor sport icon Sir Stirling Moss recently admitted he felt let down by the actions of the the 24-year-old Brit.

Hamilton knows he has a mountain of work to do to restore his reputation. He said: "I need to keep being me, remain humble and continue to do a good job.

Verdict

"I hope over the course of time people will get to know exactly who I am and understand that I am, in actual fact, a good person and I do what I do because I love it."

He admitted tension in the team had eased since the World Motor Sport Council handed down their verdict.

He said: "What's been very impressive is the team have not been affected by it.

"We've been pushing since the test we had here and fortunately through past experiences they've been very, very strong altogether and focused on the primary goal.

"For sure it's a weight off the shoulders of the team and the guys back at the factory who can focus more on getting the car back to the front. It can only get pretty good for them."



Go Alonso!