Lewis Hamilton feud stopped Fernando Alonso driving for Mercedes admits

Fernando Alonso turned down Mercedes earlier this year, but there was previous interest from the Spaniard.

Toto Wolff has admitted that the troublesome relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso during their time as McLaren team-mates prevented the Spaniard from driving from Mercedes, despite considerable interest from his side between 2014 and 2020.

Alonso – who was a two-time world champion by this point – teamed up with the rookie Hamilton during the 2007 season. With the latter immediately on the pace, arriving in F1 as a genuine title contender, there were a number of on-track clashes and petty battles between the two McLaren drivers.

Discussing the rivalry in a DAZN documentary, Alonso explained: “There were many things that broke the relationship harmony of that year. We were young, immature, I was the first, and we had many clashes.” He later elaborated: “We had a boss who did not know how to control the situation.

This would not have happened with Flavio Briatore. Or with Lawrence Stroll. There are certain characters in F1 who are respected and others whose drivers have control of the situation. In that McLaren of 2007, the drivers had too much control and no one gave us serious warning.”