Mercedes boss throws shade at Fernando Alonso - “He is good at that, the cries of 'I nearly hit him'”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has taken shots at Fernando Alonso for exaggerating the pitlane incident between him and Lewis Hamilton during the 2023 Canadian GP.

The two world champions were involved in an enthralling battle for P2 during the entire race. While the Mercedes driver got the jump at the start of the race to move ahead, Alonso had the opportunity to take the place during the pit stops.

Aston Martin F1 team executed a perfect pit stop to hand the advantage to the two-time world champion but Hamilton and Mercedes were able to just do enough to be in front of Fernando Alonso. To avoid contact, he had to slam his brakes.

During his post-race interview, Toto Wolff called out Fernando Alonso and said to RacingNews365:

"[It was] a bit of drama. Shaking the steering a little bit and a little bit of touching of the brakes. He is good at that, the cries of 'I nearly hit him'... a bit of drama."

Fernando Alonso analyzes his Canadian GP performance on Sunday

The two-time world champion mentioned that it was not a straightforward race for him as he had to push flat out to defend against Lewis Hamilton throughout.

Speaking with F1.com, Fernando Alonso said:

"I think we were hoping to challenge a little bit more the Red Bull, but we lost a place at the start with Lewis. Then it was a battle with the Mercedes, and Lewis was pushing all the race. I didn’t have one lap where I could relax a little bit, so it was an amazing battle.

"At the beginning, I had a little bit more pace, and at the end, I think Lewis had a little bit more pace. It was tough, a very demanding race, all 70 laps of qualifying today.”

He also spoke about the issue he faced mid-race, adding:

“I don’t know really; they didn’t tell me. Maybe it wasn’t to make me worry too much. I felt the car was OK, but I was just following the instructions. Hopefully, that means we have a little bit more pace, so [at the] next one [we can] put a little bit more pressure on Max.”

It will be interesting to see if in the upcoming races will Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso be able to challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen closer than the opening nine races of 2023.