Eagle-eyed Formula 1 fans spotted Fernando Alonso’s hand gesture toward Lewis Hamilton at the Mexico GP.

Fernando Alonso was seen clapping sarcastically at Lewis Hamilton next to him (Image: Sky Sports)

Fernando Alonso was spotted sarcastically applauding Lewis Hamilton after he felt his age-old Formula 1 rival had got in his way during practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix. In an incident not shown on the television feed, the Aston Martin driver aborted a flying lap when he came across the Ferrari ahead of him on track.

He was unfortunate to pull up behind Hamilton just as they reached a tight and twisty section of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. It means the seven-time world champion had nowhere to go to avoid giving out dirty air to the car behind, unsettling Alonso’s car.

But regardless of whether or not Hamilton could have realistically done more, his Spanish rival was not at all amused. Alonso made that clear as he pulled up alongside the Ferrari after slowing, before looking across and taking both hands off the steering wheel to applaud in sarcastic fashion.

While Sky Sports viewers will have missed that moment, it was spotted by some fans who were watching the on-board feed from Alonso’s car and quickly surfaced on social media. In the comments, the vast majority of fans clearly felt Hamilton did little wrong in this case.

One fan asked: “Where did he want Hamilton to go exactly?” Another observed: ” As an Alonso fan, I think he didn’t get impeded at all, he just let off the gas thinking Hamilton wasn’t going to let him take the next corner on optimal line.” And a third wrote: “He tried his best to get out of his way, not sure what else he was supposed to do.”

The two eldest drivers on the grid, Alonso and Hamilton have plenty of history stretching back to the 2007 season when the Brit, as a rookie, was paired with the Spaniard at McLaren. Alonso was already a double world champion and did not take too kindly to a newbie on the F1 grid challenging him for wins. Their relationship soured and they took so many points off each other that Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen beat both to the drivers’ title.

And this latest little clash is not even the first time Alonso has been angered by Hamilton’s actions this month. At the end of the Singapore Grand Prix, he produced an extraordinary expletive-laden rant over his rival’s corner-cutting in the final few laps, which happened because the brakes on his Ferrari failed.

Hamilton had finished narrowly ahead of Alonso on track regardless, but had the last laugh as the stewards gave the Brit a penalty after the race for going off track too many times and that dropped him below his rival in the final classification.