"Lewis Hamilton thinks he's alone on the track": Fernando Alonso rages at the Mercedes driver for impeding him on-track

Fernando Alonso was unhappy with Lewis Hamilton impeding him twice during the second practice session of the 2024 F1 Imola GP. This happened when Alonso was on a fast lap around the Imola circuit.

In the second practice session at Imola, Fernando Alonso was on a flying lap. When he zoomed past turn 12, Lewis Hamilton failed to move away from the racing line on time, which cost Alonso a few tenths of a second. Later in the session, Alonso once again felt that he was impeded by Hamilton on turn 7 when he was on another flying lap.

Hamilton was not only found impeding his old rival Fernando Alonso, but he also accidentally blocked Max Verstappen during FP2. After the incident, the seven-time world champion came side-by-side with the Red Bull driver and apologized.

Furious with his old rival's antics, the Aston Martin driver complained about Hamilton impeding both his flying laps. He sarcastically stated that the Mercedes driver thought he was the only driver on the track.

"Hamilton thinks that he is alone on the track. It's the second lap he does it, you know, turn 12 and now turn 7," Alonso exclaimed.

Hamilton secured fourth place in the second practice session, while Alonso found himself down in tenth. Surprisingly, defending world champion Max Verstappen also struggled and placed himself in seventh.

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Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen share their views on the impeding incident during Imola practice

At the second practice session for the Imola GP, Lewis Hamilton was seen blocking Max Verstappen by accident while the latter was on a fast lap.

When Verstappen was on a flying lap and was about to approach the hairpin turn at Imola, he was impeded by Hamilton's Mercedes. From the onboards, it was clear that the Red Bull driver was unhappy with the antics. Speaking to F1TV after the session, Verstappen said:

“It’s not the first time. Of course, you try to always stay calm about it, but it happened again. On the other hand, I don’t want to really talk about it too much because that’s not our issue. Today, we were just severely off pace. That we need to fix.”

Lewis Hamilton was also asked about the incident on F1TV. The seven-time world champion claimed that he thought he was away from the racing line but was caught off-guard by Verstappen. He admitted his mistake but said that the Dutchman was too furious to accept an apology from him.

“Jeez. I was on a cool-down lap. I thought I was well clear, but all of a sudden he was right on me, and ultimately it was my mistake. I tried to apologize, but he was too frustrated,” Hamilton said.

Though Verstappen struggled during both practice sessions, he continues to cruise to the top of the 2024 F1 drivers' championship with 136 points. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, is currently ninth with only 27 points, and Fernando Alonso is eighth with 33 points.