Fernando Alonso rips into Lewis Hamilton for first lap crash in Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has been brandished an idiot and massively criticised for not knowing how to race by Fernando Alonso, after a clash on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix.

There is no love lost between Hamilton and Alonso, from their time driving for McLaren together, during the former's first ever season in Formula One.

And on Sunday they were given the chance to reignite their old rivalry, when they started the race in Spa in next to each other on the second row of the grid, with Alonso starting third and Hamilton in fourth.

At the start of the race both had a great start, with the Alpine driver moving into second and the Mercedes man moving into third at the opening corner.

DRAMA ON THE OPENING LAP!

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso come together on the opening lap! 😮 pic.twitter.com/8GQp94gZ7h

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 28, 2022

Later in the lap, Hamilton saw the chance to go past the Spaniard but they ended up crashing into each other, with the British driver not giving his rival enough room at the corner.

That was the end of the race for the seven time world champion but he was getting no sympathy from Alonso, who got on his team radio to rip into his fellow driver, claiming he didn't know how to race if he wasn't in front.

"Yeah. What an idiot! Closing the door from the outside!" Alonso told his team for all to hear.

"I mean, we had a mega start but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first."

"This guy only knows how to drive and start in first" 📻

Fernando Alonso was NOT happy with Lewis Hamilton as they collide on the opening lap 😡 pic.twitter.com/D2GgCXrBHI

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 28, 2022

The race officials did investigate the incident, which most people would have agreed was the fault of Hamilton, but there was no punishment handed out.

Alonso did drop a couple of places following the collision but it was his rival who suffered the most, having to retire his car as it completely slowed down to a complete stop.

Whilst Alonso and Hamilton were negatively affected, Max Verstappen will have been absolutely delighted with the safety car that followed.

The current world champion was far quicker than everyone else in qualifying on Saturday but had to drop down the grid due to penalties taken.

He had already catapulted up the pack in the opening lap and the closing of the cars due to the safety car helped him close the gap on the leaders and he was ahead by the 11the lap.