Qatar GP: Lewis Hamilton Admits 'Fault' In Crash With Teammate As Verstappen Seals Third Championship

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a difference of opinion immediately after they crashed into each other in the opening corner of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday. The collision blew the rear tyre off Hamilton's car, forcing him into retirement. In the aftermath of the crash, the seven-time world champion initially blamed his teammate but later backtracked on his earlier statement and accepted that the incident was in fact, his "fault".

What happened in the opening corner?

Newly-crowned world champion Max Verstappen started from pole position with Russell and Hamilton in hot pursuit. It was a great qualifying session for Mercedes as they managed to put their cars ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez as well as the McLarens, Ferraris and Aston Martins.

Both Mercedes cars got off the line quickly, and they were ambitious as they tried to challenge the Dutchman for the lead in the opening corner. Verstappen took the apex on the right-hand turn while Russell tried to get alongside him. Hamilton had a good start from the other side of the track and tried to round the corner from the outside.

However, Hamilton turned into the corner and squeezed into his teammate, who had nowhere to go since he had the Red Bull to his right. Hamilton's right rear tyre was caught by Russell in what resulted in something similar to a pit manoeuvre that sent him spinning into the gravel with his busted tyre spinnning off into the distance. Hamilton's move was clearly overambitious, but he was not immediately willing to own up to his mistake

Hamilton fumed at Russell

Luckily for Mercedes, Russell was able to keep his car running despite sustaining damage in the collision. Hamilton was not so lucky, as he found his car beached in the middle of the gravel trap with one tyre missing. It was an early retirement for Hamilton, who took to the team radio to complain: "Yeah I got taken out by my own teammate."

He then made his way back to the garage while Russell went in for a new nose cone. He had to rejoin at the back after the safety car was deployed while Hamilton's car was being recovered.

Hamilton was initially livid, but after watching replays of the incident, he saw that his teammate literally had no place to go and that he was the one who swerved into the other Mercedes. He spoke to reporters later in the race and was visibly humbled and devastated by his mistake which almost cost the team both of their cars.

He also took to social media to repeat his apology: "I've watched the replay and it was 100% my fault and I take full responsibility. Apologies to my team and to George."

George Russell ordered to keep his head in the race

It wasn't just Hamilton who was frustrated after the collision, with Russell taking to his team radio to say: "Come on! What the hell? Guys, come on. Two races in a row!"

After the replays were shown in monitors throughout the track during the safety car period, Russell tried to reason out to the team to say that the crash was not his fault. "Lost for words, honestly. I couldn't do anything. I was totally sandwiched," he said before being told off by team principal Toto Wolff. The Austrian is recuperating at home from a recent knee surgery, but he managed to take to the team radio to tell Russell to put the crash behind him and to simply put his head down to focus on the race.

No bad blood?

Hamilton is the first to insist that he and his teammate still have a good relationship despite their heated battles this season. "The relationship isn't broken. I don't 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," he said.

Russell echoed the same sentiment on social media in the aftermath of the race wherein he managed to finish fourth behind Verstappen and the two McLarens despite the early pit stop to change his nose cone.

He shared a video of Hamilton coming up to him after the race, with the two of them hugging after the latter expressed his apologies. He captioned the post: "No hard feelings. We're here to fight and maximise for the team. We misjudged it today, but our car was exceptionally strong and I'm proud of the whole team. Time to regroup and continue building off the strong pace in Austin."

The two drivers recently signed contract extensions with Mercedes, and it remains to be seen if they can continue to be cordial in the coming seasons.