Alonso plays down Hamilton crash

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Sunday 6th April 2008

Fernando Alonso refused to make too much about his run-in with Lewis Hamilton in the opening stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton crashed into the back of Alonso's Renault, damaging his rear wing. The McLaren driver was forced to pit and eventually finished the race in 13th place.

There have been suggestions that Alonso brake-tested his former team-mate, but Alonso didn't see anything sinister about the incident.

"The McLaren was just a lot faster than my car and he crashed into me," the Renault driver Spanish network Telecinco.

Alonso came through the accident with minimum damage.

"There was some damage to the rear wing, but the car wasn't handling too badly compared to practice and qualifying. It was more or less the same so I don't think I could have done much more," he said.

The Spaniard has already turned his attention to the next race in Spain, saying the team are pinning their hopes on Barcelona.

"I think the whole team knows we need to improve as quickly as possible because nobody likes to complete 58 laps in 10th place or 11th," he said.

"So all our hopes are pinned on the improvements we have for Barcelona. If that goes wrong, then we are going to have to start to worry for the rest of the season."