Hamilton and Alonso hold peace talks

LEWIS HAMILTON and Fernando Alonso held clear-the-air talks yesterday.

In an effort to avoid a repeat of the events that unfolded during a turbulent Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, McLaren boss Ron Dennis ordered a crisis meeting at a hotel in Istanbul.

Dennis was a furious and frustrated figure at the Hungaro ring as his two star drivers became embroiled in a battle on and off the track that sullied the name of his team.

Hamilton initiated the furore by ignoring team orders at the start of the final qualifying session as he was specifically instructed over the radio on five separate occasions to allow Alonso by.

Hamilton opted not to do so, fearing it would compromise his own qualifying strategy at Budapest’s Hungaroring, which angered his 26-year-old team-mate.

Alonso subsequently replied in kind by deliberately blocking the world championship leader in the pit lane, so preventing the 22-year-old Briton from embarking on a final flying lap.

Although Alonso managed to clinch pole, race stewards deemed he had “unnecessarily impeded another driver” and so demoted him to sixth on the grid.

Before the stewards delivered their verdict, Hamilton was first involved in a row with Dennis over the radio at the end of the qualifying period.

A war of words also followed between Hamilton and Alonso as each gave their version of events, culminating in the stewards siding with the Briton.

With Hamilton elevated to pole, he comfortably claimed victory, while Alonso came home fourth and now a seven-point gap exists between the duo with six grands prix remaining.

Hamilton conceded immediately after the race that Alonso had not spoken to him since qualifying, underlining the degeneration in their previously fragile relationship.

The silence was punctuated by a telephone call between the duo as Formula One began its short summer hiatus, and Hamilton insisting he and Alonso were “not drivers at war”.

However, up until yesterday they had not met face-to-face, and with the world expecting hostilities to be resumed at this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, Dennis felt it imperative the matter was put to rest.

What is surprising is given the grave nature of the situation, the summit meeting was not called prior to yesterday, and that it has been allowed to drag on for over two weeks.

It means for the second consecutive grand prix, Hamilton and Alonso managed to avoid customary media duties on the Thursday prior to a race.

In Budapest, they were withdrawn from press events as Dennis opted at the time to shield them from questions with regard to the “spy” saga.