During the Qatar Grand Prix, tensions skyrocketed when Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who started third and second respectively, were involved in a spectacular collision at the first corner of the Sunday race. This accident it put an end to Hamilton's hopes of gaining valuable points in the standings and sparked a series of reactions. The first to react were the two teammates, who said all sorts of things to each other on the radio. Especially Russell who found himself in last position and with an obligatory pit stop after just one lap. Hamilton's exit came at a decidedly wrong time for the team which was hoping to be able to aspire to a prestigious double on the podium, given the performance of the W14. An important double both from a constructors' point of view, with Ferrari in difficulty and without Sainz stopped by a loss, both from a drivers perspective to aspire to the second place occupied by Perez, who is in obvious difficulty. There has been a lot of talk about responsibility but let's see the statements on the contact by Hamilton after the race in Qatar.
The dynamics of the shock contact between Hamilton and Russell at the Qatar Grand Prix
Starting from third position, Hamilton put himself in vain in difficulty in a desperate attempt - against the rubber - to overtake his teammate Russell and poleman Max Verstappen in one go. The collision resulted in Hamilton ending up in the gravel, with the right rear of his Mercedes severely damaged.
In the midst of the chaos, the reactions of the pilots were immediate. While Russell initially appeared in disbelief at the incident, Hamilton quickly took responsibility for the contact in Qatar in statements. "I'm really sorry for the team, today we had the chance to get some good points." Hamilton said. “In the heat of the moment I didn't understand what had happened but I don't think George had room. I'm happy to take responsibility for it. It's really devastating to get a result like this and I hope George can come back and get back into the points."
Russell's reaction was the strongest, because despite having remained on the track he paid dearly for this mistake which prevented him from getting on the podium. "Come on, what the hell, it's two races in a row" – says Russell referring to the near-contact at Suzuka the previous race week. The air was already tense there, and perhaps the absence of Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff made the climate between the two talents hotter. Wolff remotely attempted to calm Russell by pushing him to comeback. After the contact, the young Mercedes talent first mentioned an error of judgment on his part, only to then change his version and return to his teammate's reckless gesture.
“Sorry guys, I wasn't even looking. I was focused forward and he came out of nowhere.” – says in a radio team. However, he later changes his mind. "Shit, I'm speechless. Honestly. I just watched the replays on the TV screen. I couldn't do anything. Totally plugged in. “Fuck, come on”
Lewis' apologies, also on social media
This incident raised many questions regarding the internal dynamics of the Mercedes team, particularly on driver management and has fueled discussions among Formula 1 fans around the world. All eyes are now on the next race to see how the team will deal with this situation and whether there will be any repercussions on the relationship between Hamilton and Russell. In the meantime, via social media, Mercedes has published a video of the first "meeting" between the two to return to peace, with Hamilton visibly displeased. Also on “X”, that is Twitter the seven-time world champion wanted to repeat his apologies. "I watched the replay and it was 100% my fault and I take full responsibility for it. I apologize to my team and George.” Will it end here?
