Fernando Alonso slammed rival Lewis Hamilton during practice of the United States Grand Prix in Austin. Drivers took part in an extended practice session on Friday with Pirelli testing their tyres around the COTA track for 2023.
In that time two-time world champion Alonso was left frustated with Hamilton, as the Alpine man looked to cash in on a fast lap. The Spaniard flew round the Texan track but was stopped in his tracks and forced to slow down by the seven-time world champion.
As a result, Alonso was seemingly unable to get past Hamilton who did not offer the 40-year-old enough space to take over forcing him to lose momentum.
And with the Spanish star looking to post one of his quicker times of the day he was unsurprisingly unhappy with his old rival. Taking aim at Hamilton for not letting him through, Alonso said down the team radio: "Hamilton has no mirrors today. Unbelievable!"
Overall it was a frustrating start to the race weekend for the Alpine man, as he could only finish 17th fastest in FP2, whilst Hamilton came in eighth fastest. Hamilton heads to Austin still looking for his first win of the 2022 campaign, as his first winless season of his Formula 1 career grows closer.
It has been no secret the seven-time world champion has struggled to adapt to his Mercedes car for 2022. But after a promising performance in FP1 and an upgrade, the Englishman seems much more optimistic heading into this weekend's race. He said: "Firstly, I’m super grateful to everyone back at the factory for working so hard and bringing us the upgrade for this weekend.
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"It’s been a tough year for everyone at the factory and for them to be continuously pushing and keeping their heads down and pulling out these new upgrades, I’m super grateful. I kept the car in one piece today - just about - which is good.
"And definitely felt improvements in the car. Obviously FP2 was a bit of a waste in terms of figuring out performance, but P1 was feeling quite good. I’m hoping we make some changes tonight and we’ll find out exactly where we stand. But it doesn’t feel like we are too far away.”
