Fernando Alonso reignites Lewis Hamilton rivalry with sarcastic applause in practice
A sarcastic applause from Fernando Alonso during practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso sarcastically clapped Lewis Hamilton during second practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Alonso was unhappy that Hamilton appeared to impede him during the session and responded by sarcastically applauding his former McLaren teammate.
The moment wasn’t shown on the world feed during practice, but videos surfaced on social media afterwards.
Alonso and Hamilton’s rivalry stretches back to 2007, when they were F1 teammates at McLaren.
Hamilton finished ahead of Alonso in the drivers’ standings during his rookie season.
While respect has remained between the pair, there has still been occasional needle over the years.
More recently, at the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix, Alonso delivered an extraordinary rant over team radio after Hamilton finished just ahead of him despite nursing a brake issue.
Hamilton later hit back with an amusing post on Instagram, sharing a clip from the British comedy show One Foot in the Grave, in which the main character Victor Meldrew repeatedly says: “I don’t believe it.”
Alonso didn’t reference the latest incident with Hamilton in his post-practice debrief.
“I think the car felt better, for sure, in FP2 than FP1. So we made some setup changes,” Alonso said after FP2.
“So yeah, well, let’s try to explore more into that direction tonight.”
Alonso remains cautious about Aston Martin’s pace, which has often looked stronger in practice than in qualifying or the race.
“It was a combination of everything,” Alonso added.
“But anyway, we’ve been in the top five the last four grands prix on Fridays, and then it’s not the real picture on Saturdays. So yeah, we have to take things carefully today, the times.
“And yeah, most of the people did only FP2 with FP1 being the rookies in the car. So I guess tomorrow everyone will improve a little bit.”
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