Hamilton qualified third in Valencia. He passed Mark Webber at the start of the race. During a safety car period, Hamilton passed the second safety car line about 0.5 seconds after the safety car exited the pits. Hamilton passed the safety car instead of slowing down to follow the safety car. Fernando Alonso was behind Hamilton and had to remain behind the safety car. Alonso complained on the radio to his team. The stewards investigated the incident and penalized Hamilton with a drive through penalty. There was a 20 minutes before the penalty was announced. This allowed Hamilton to build up a large gap with the car behind him. When he served his penalty, he stayed in second place. This made Alonso and the Ferrari team mad. Hamilton then accused Alonso of "sour grapes". Hamilton and Alonso made-up before the next race. Hamilton finished second and retained his lead in the drivers championship.