Spanish press toys with English Hamilton quote

A mischievous Spanish press is ramping up the acrimony between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Earlier this week, after Alonso had accused the FIA of manipulating the outcome of the European grand prix, his former McLaren teammate Hamilton responded by surmising that the Spaniard was suffering from "sour grapes".

But, in fact, the Briton did not actually utter the words, instead merely answering "yeah" to a reporter’s interpretation of Alonso’s outbursts.

However, rather than simply repeat the ’sour grapes’ expression, which originates from one of Aesop’s Fables, Spanish wire agencies said Hamilton accused Alonso of "envidia" (envy).

And when trying to explain Alonso’s bad mood, Hamilton had said it was "very unlike him to be overtaken by a Sauber so he must have been completely in another world".

But the Spanish headline writers said simply that Hamilton had accused Alonso of "vive en otro mundo" (living in another world).

El Mundo newspaper combined the two, stating the Hamilton quote as "Alonso tiene envidia y debe vivir en otro mundo" (Alonso is envious and must live in another world).

Unsurprisingly, the AS newspaper responded with "Hamilton: por que no te callas?" (Hamilton: why don’t you shut up?).