Mercedes Engineer Claims McLaren Would Have Been Ousted From Double Podium Had Lewis Hamilton-George Russell Collision Didn’t Happen

After a difficult start to the 2023 season, McLaren are now the second-fastest team on the current F1 grid. The Woking-based outfit showcased their pace at the Qatar Grand Prix two weeks ago when they grabbed their first double podium of this campaign. Even though McLaren were hugely impressive, Mercedes engineer James Allison has claimed that had Lewis Hamilton and George Russell not collided on the opening lap of the race, then their side would have finished on the podium.

The Silver Arrows had a disappointing race in Qatar as the collision between the two teammates resulted in Hamilton no longer being able to carry on. While the 38-year-old did not score any points as a result, Russell did salvage a fourth-place finish after the collision resulted in him falling to the back of the grid. Hence, Mercedes definitely had some pace to challenge McLaren for the podium.

Allison explains how Hamilton and Russell’s collision cost the team

In the most recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Damon Hill asked James Allison to explain how the lap one incident between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell cost the team dearly. The 55-year-old began his reply by explaining how the first few laps were undoubtedly going to be tricky for the pair as they started the race on different tires.

Hamilton started on the soft, while Russell started on the mediums. Since the two drivers were on different strategies, Allison stated that it would have been ideal for them not to fight each other. After stating the same, Allison then explained how if the two drivers had not collided, Mercedes would have clinched the final two podium spots.

“I think it would have been a very comfortable 2-3,” replied Allison. The British engineer then explained how it has been frustrating not to make the most of their package on most weekends due to some or the other issues they have faced.

However, with the F1 2023 season now at its business end, Mercedes will hope that they can get on top of their issues as soon as possible as they are in a tight battle with Ferrari for second in the championship.

Mercedes plans to bring more upgrades for the United States GP

On the same podcast, James Allison then stated that Mercedes are optimistic about securing some strong results in the remaining races of the 2023 season. He said that since the Silver Arrows are going to bring upgrades to the Circuit of the Americas, they should be strong in all the upcoming races.

Since Red Bull have already won the championship, Mercedes now just has one goal, and that is to secure second in the championship. As things stand, they are currently second with 326 points, 28 points ahead of third-placed Ferrari. Since the gap between the two teams is so minimal, the fight for second place is likely to go down to the wire.