Hamilton: It was big of Alonso to come over

Monday 10th November 2008

They may not be the best of buddies but there is "huge amount of respect" between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, according to the 2008 World Champ.

Hamilton and Alonso didn't have the best of relationships during the Spaniard's season with McLaren last year. Alonso added further fuel to the fire when he claimed before the final race in Brazil that he would do everything he could to help Felipe Massa to secure the title.

However, after the race Alonso visited the McLaren garage to congratulate Hamilton after he won the World Championship by just a single point and was quoted afterwards as saying, "Lewis deserves his time and I congratulated him."

Hamilton says it was "big" of Alonso to come over and says they've always respected each other.

"I don't think there was a particular dispute between us," the McLaren driver said during Mercedes-Benz's Stars & Cars event in Stuttgart. "We've greeted each other when we've met each other at the track - we've always respected each other.

"It was great to see him in the garage. He came over as I saw my team, I turned round and he was there - just to wish me congratulations. Then he said congratulations to the rest of the team.
"I had a huge amount of respect for him already, but it took a big man to come and do that so I was very thankful to him."

Source : Planet F1