Imago
Hamilton and Alonso
Imago
Hamilton and Alonso
At the US Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton clinched his 6th Formula One world championship. After the celebrations, the Briton revealed that former teammate Fernando Alonso sent in his congratulations.
The 34-year old confessed that he was grateful for a “pretty amazing” message from the Spaniard. With this, Lewis Hamilton is now the second-most successful F1 driver of all time just one championship shy of Michael Schumacher.
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Prior to this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton divulged that Alonso texted his congratulations. Admittedly, the duo did not get along well when they were teammates at McLaren. The good news is that since those dark days, the two drivers have cleared the air between them.
“I got a text from Fernando as well which was pretty amazing, I was really grateful for that, because obviously we’ve gone through a whirlwind of experiences together over the years,” Hamilton said.
“In all honesty, I always have respect for what he achieved and his ability, and also seeing his growth through his period of time at McLaren.”
The Mercedes driver disclosed that he was simply swarmed by 100s of congratulatory messages. Among them was former McLaren team boss Ron Dennis, who signed Hamilton at the age of 10.
Lewis Hamilton continued, “I’m grateful for all of the people that cared to send me a text and congratulate me, but it’s a lot to reply to. There’s 400 messages or something, so it was a lot.
“But seeing Ron’s [Dennis] text was really, really touched me inside, because I met him when I was 10 years old, and he saw something in me that no-one else did except for my dad, and gave me an opportunity to showcase my abilities and learn and to grow, and without him, I most likely wouldn’t have made it to Formula 1.
“I would have fallen away due to a lack of finances, been leapfrogged by a bunch of individuals that had more money to back them.
“I’m forever grateful to Ron, and always have love for Ron, and I hope he feels some sort of pride. He said how proud he was. I hope that he can share and feel he is as much a part of this as anyone.”
