DOHA, Qatar – Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the Qatar Grand Prix after colliding with teammate George Russell at the first corner, an incident Hamilton accepted responsibility for.
Russell and Hamilton were starting second and third and found themselves alongside each other going into Turn 1.
Hamilton was on the outside and Russell was bottled up behind Verstappen, who started from pole position. When Russell moved out to his left, Hamilton came past at speed and they collided.
The collision took Hamilton’s right rear tyre from his car and dumped him in the gravel, instantly ending his race. Russell was able to continue.
1:35
Hamilton out of Qatar GP after first-lap collision with Russell
Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell make contact on Turn 1 of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Immediately after the crash Mercedes asked Hamilton if he was OK, to which he curtly replied: “Yeah, I got taken out by my own teammate”.
Russell clearly felt his teammate was at fault, saying over his own radio channel: “Come on guys! Two races in a row.”
Russell radioed twice more in the laps which followed.
“I’m so sorry guys I wasn’t even looking behind,” he said after making a pit-stop to repair damage. “I was just focused ahead and just came from nowhere.”
“F—— lost for words, honestly,” Russell said in another radio message during the Safety Car period which followed.
“Just seen the replays on the TV screen. I couldn’t do anything. Totally sandwiched.”
Shortly afterwards Hamilton made his way to the media pen and admitted he had put Russell in a difficult position.
“I think in the heat in the moment I felt… it was obviously frustrating because I felt this tap from the rear end. But I don’t think George had anywhere to go,” he said. “I think it was just an unfortunate scenario, I’m happy to take responsibility as that’s my role.
“I need to go back and look at it but I don’t feel it was George’s fault.”
Hamilton downplayed any suggestion the crash would lead to a tense atmosphere with Russell.
“The relationship isn’t broken. I don’t have any I have any problems with George. We have a great relationship and we always talk about things. This is definitely unfortunate and I’m sure he was frustrated in the moment, like I was.
“But we’ll talk about it offline and we’ll move forwards. This apology is to all the team.”
Source: www.espn.com