Hamilton-Alonso 'could get nasty'

john the tinca · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject: Hamilton-Alonso 'could get nasty'

The battle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will be more vicious than last year now they are in separate teams, says Red Bull's Mark Webber.

The Australian believes the restraints on their rivalry will be lifted after Alonso's move to Renault from McLaren.

"It could actually get nastier in terms of the battle on the track because the gloves are off," he said.

"Fernando can take the fight to Lewis - there is a bit of friction there. It could be fascinating."

Webber said it was unlikely Alonso's Renault team would be in a position to regularly challenge Hamilton's McLaren outfit and the Ferrari team of world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

But he said the Spanish double world champion will relish the chance to butt in on the fight between the big two teams on occasion.

Alonso left McLaren at the end of last season one year into a three-year contract because he fell out with the team.

"Fernando would love at the end of next year to have beaten both of them [McLaren and Hamilton] but he knows it's not possible in the first year," said Webber, who will be the BBC Sport website's F1 columnist this year.

"He's not saying he doesn't care about it; he's just being realistic.

"He's not stupid, Fernando, even though some things were a little wild last year. He's got his head screwed on.

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