ISTANBUL, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso came face-to-face in Turkey on Thursday for the first time since their row in Hungary.

The duo did not, as usual, go to the Istanbul Park track to begin preparations for the Grand Prix but remained in the city.

Hamilton and Alonso met with team principal Ron Dennis, chief executive Martin Whitmarsh and other senior staff, for what were unofficially described as clear the air talks.

The drivers had planned to get-together during Formula One´s three-week summer break but this meeting did not take place because, according to sources, they were enjoying their holidays too much.

Hamilton revealed after winning the last race in Hungary that the double world champion Alonso was not speaking to him following their qualifying bust-up.

The British rookie, who leads Alonso by seven points with six races left, had refused the team´s order to move over for Alonso during the fuel burn off phase.

Alonso reacted by delaying his exit before his final pit-stop thus wrecking Hamilton´s final qualifying lap, but the Spaniard was hit with a five place starting grid penalty by the race stewards.

Drivers normally head to the circuit on a Thursday for meetings with their engineers and to fulfill media commitments, but Hamilton and Alonso had sponsor´s events in Istanbul on Thursday morning.

McLaren decided that because of the time it takes to make the journey to the circuit in the Turkish traffic, the meeting would take place in the city.

The team want to put the problems of Hungary behind them and focus on the battle with Ferrari for the drivers´ and manufacturers´ world championships.

Whitmarsh has said: "Each race weekend has its own challenges. We faced some unique ones at the Hungarian Grand Prix and there has been much reportage in the press in the two weeks since.

"However, none of this has affected the preparation and motivation of Fernando, Lewis and the team for this round of the season."