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Imago

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Imago

It’s been a weekend full of drama and we are not talking about any of the on-track racing action in Monza. The historic 2023 Italian GP has seen plenty of off-track drama thanks to a verbal squabble between two rival teams. We are of course talking about the war of words between the Mercedes and Red Bull men which has taken a little shine off of Max Verstappen’s record. Lewis Hamilton kickstarted this tussle with his criticism of the media for glorifying Verstappen‘s dominance over his teammates. Toto Wolff took it up a notch after the race. Now, even Fernando Alonso has joined the fun with an extremely diminishing statement targeting both the world champions.

Terrell Owens holding Dude Wipes XL

Alonso is known for his brutally honest and savage remarks toward others, especially Hamilton thanks to their old rivalry. However, for the first time, Alonso has put the Red Bull man as well in his firing range. Alonso not only took credit away from Hamilton for winning all his titles at Mercedes, but he diminished Verstappen’s efforts with Red Bull as well.

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“When Hamilton went to Mercedes [in 2013], he didn’t build anything to be champion. It was just a change of [hybrid engines] regulations that changed everything on the grid and raised Mercedes. I think the same with Max, when he joined Toro Rosso and Red Bull, Hamilton continued to earn his all. Red Bull is not a winning team thanks to him, simply another regulatory change in 2021 has caused [Red Bull] to now win all races,” said Alonso as seen on Twitter (now X), reported by Marca.

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The Spaniard leaves no prisoners and now even Verstappen has tasted the wrath of Alonso. We are not sure what invoked these statements from Alonso. Perhaps he was feeling a little left out from the ongoing debate.

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Read More: Fernando Alonso Compares Lewis Hamilton With F2 Driver to Deliver Shocking Verdict, Moments After $127,000,000 Extension

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However, all off-track talk goes to waste when there is a lack of performance on the track. Something Alonso was suffering from until recently.

Lewis Hamilton and Co.’s comeback gathered extra steam thanks to Fernando Alonso’s impressive start

The Aston Martin AMR23 was absolutely rapid in the opening part of the season. The Silverstone-based outfit was the surprise of the season as they became the second-fastest team on the grid behind the RB19. Alonso took full advantage of the incredible machinery and delivered back-to-back podiums. This start is exactly what gave Mercedes the push to work on their car to beat their “customer” team.

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Mercedes’s technical director James Allison said, “We were the fourth [fastest] team at the beginning of the year. Even our customer teams were faster. That was frustrating. Ferrari also beat us.”

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He then also expressed his satisfaction with the progress, “Step by step, we are now leaving those teams behind us.”

Alonso was back on the podium last weekend but was down again in Monza. So was Mercedes with the Ferrari’s taking the second spot in the standings. No one knows who will be performing well in Singapore but it will be interesting to see if any team can challenge the Red Bulls.

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WATCH THIS STORY | Lewis Hamilton Exposing Mercedes’ Mistake Termed a Blessing in Disguise After Miraculous Turnaround

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Written by

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Mahim Suhalka

2,204 Articles

Mahim is a senior Formula 1 writer at EssentiallySports. With a Diploma in Sports Management, he ventured into sports journalism for his sheer passion for F1. Mahim has written over 2000 articles during his tenure at ES, and his expertise is in perspective pieces and core sports coverage. Mahim’s writing flair and meticulous research work have resulted in him contributing to in-depth analysis on teams like Red Bull and Mercedes as well as Team Principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff. His support for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team and their #44 driver Lewis Hamilton came naturally after being awestruck by the brilliance during his foray into F1. You can follow him on X @MahimSuhalka.

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Aishwary Gaonkar

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