Ted Kravitz says Mercedes decided not to sign one F1 driver because of ‘tension’ with Lewis Hamilton

Follow us on Google Discover

Lewis Hamilton had three different teammates during his 12-season stint at Mercedes. There was never any real indication that Hamilton held any veto power over the second cockpit.

When Hamilton arrived, Nico Rosberg had already been with the team for three years. With Mercedes dominant at the start of the turbo/hybrid era, they were title rivals between 2014 and 2016.

After losing out in successive years (2015 was particularly one-sided), Rosberg finally prevailed in 2016. It took every ounce of energy he had, and he retired rather abruptly at the end of the season.

Valtteri Bottas replaced Rosberg and ended up becoming the unwilling number two driver as Hamilton won four titles in a row between 2017 and 2020.

It’s said that Hamilton wanted Bottas to stay, but Mercedes promoted academy driver George Russell in 2022. Russell and Hamilton were extremely close over their three years together, but the newcomer finished ahead in the standings twice.

Ted Kravitz says Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso could have reunited at Mercedes

Virtually every F1 driver would have relished an opportunity to join Mercedes in this period, including two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. Alonso was the nearest challenger to the Sebastian Vettel/Red Bull dynasty between 2010 and 2013, but Ferrari struggled at the start of the new regulations.

After a winless 2014 season with just one podium, Alonso decided Ferrari were ill-equipped to meet his championship ambitions. However, according to Ted Kravitz, the door to Mercedes was closed due to past ‘tension’ with Hamilton at McLaren.

Hamilton and Alonso explosively fell out during the 2007 season, and Mercedes feared a repeat. By the time Rosberg retired, Alonso had already made an ‘astonishing’ and ill-fated decision to return to McLaren.

Writing in F1 Insider: Notes from the Pit Lane, Kravitz says of Alonso: “He had become convinced that the Scuderia could not, in the short to medium term, win the world championship, and they did not have the leadership or the technical expertise with which to beat Mercedes.

“There didn’t appear to be a seat free for him at Mercedes, even as a replacement for the retiring Nico Rosberg. It was felt that the pairing of Alonso and Hamilton would have created too much intra-team tension, a real pity for the rest of us, who wouldn’t get to see their 2007 rivalry rekindled.

“And there wasn’t a seat available for him at Red Bull, who were focusing on Max Verstappen. That left Fernando with the unlikely option of a return to McLaren, quite astonishing given the circumstances under which he’d left eight years earlier.”

Fernando Alonso comments prove Lewis Hamilton feud is far from settled

The rivalry between Hamilton and Alonso is dormant, but hasn’t yet concluded. Aside from the first half of the 2023 season, the two drivers have rarely had a competitive car at the same time in the sport’s recent history.

Alonso fumed at Hamilton in the closing stages of the Singapore GP as he hunted him down for seventh place. The Ferrari driver was penalised for leaving the track multiple times due to deteriorating brakes.

Come next year, Alonso will hope that he can challenge Hamilton without relying on problems for Ferrari. At 44, he still believes he can win another world championship if Aston Martin nail the new generation of cars.

Some feel that Alonso’s praise for Verstappen is also intended as a subtle dig at Hamilton, their fellow world champion. As Kravitz says, it would be gripping if the two drivers started regularly on track again in what could be their final year racing together.