Fernando Alonso says it was 'extremely easy' to keep in front of Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso has moved to further aggravate Lewis Hamilton by declaring it was “extremely easy” to keep the British driver behind him during the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton was furious with Alonso’s slow pace in the race and had to settle for an eighth place finish, unable to overtake the Spaniard, who finished one spot ahead of him on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.

Ad/> When Alonso was told of Hamilton’s frustrations following the race, the 40-year-old simply said, “not my problem.” /> Formula 1'Freaking disaster' — Leclerc angry with Ferrari call that cost them race win16 HOURS AGO Following Mick Schumacher’s dramatic crash a third of the way into the race, Alonso opted for medium compound tyres for the restart and protected them for the remainder of the race, at the same time as slowing his pace considerably. Sitting in seventh, the two-time world champion held up a number of cars behind him — including an infuriated Hamilton — and lost between three and four seconds per lap, before deciding to significantly up his speed in the final stages.

/> Alonso explained the decision made by his Alpine team, saying, “It’s a sprint race. We had two choices.

Refit the hard tyres from the beginning of the race, or put the medium tyre. We put the medium tyre, but our life estimation was shorter than 33.

So we didn’t know if we could finish the race, so I managed a lot the tyres for 15 laps, and then I pushed for the remaining 15 when they told me that Esteban (Ocon) had the penalty.” With the narrow track working in his favour, Alonso masterfully ensured there was no way Hamilton could overtake. Seeing his driver frustrated by the situation, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has called for a review of the circuit for next