The biggest story coming out of the Qatar GP was in the form of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell colliding with each other, leaving Hamilton unable to continue the race. Upon seeing the replays, it was clear that Russell had nowhere to go, and Hamilton was the one at fault. The 7-time world champion realized this and owned up to his mistake. He apologized to Russell personally and issued a Tweet to express his regret. Given the same, former world champion Nico Rosberg sided with Russell and claims the apology from Hamilton was a big win for him, as reported by F1 Journaal.
As the feature race began in Qatar, Hamilton (P3) had the best start and had the support of soft tires to try and overtake Verstappen in the early stages of the race. However, in the heat of battle, both Mercedes drivers failed to see each other’s lines as Hamilton turned into his teammate and suffered irreparable damage to his car. Discussing the same, Rosberg chose to side with Russell as he also thought Hamilton was at fault.
Nico Rosberg happy to see Lewis Hamilton apologize to George Russell
Tensions between the two Mercedes drivers seem to be at an all-time high as the races in Suzuka and Qatar displayed a fierce battle taking place between them. Qatar, in particular, was an important moment as it saw the British teammates collide with each other.
As Hamilton owned up to his mistake, Rosberg called it an important win for Russell in the intra-team battle, as reported by F1 Journaal.
“It was good for George in Qatar because Lewis admitted it was his mistake. That was a big victory for George, also internally, and that is very exceptional because in my time it was never 100 percent Lewis’s fault, he never really had to admit anything.”
The clash in Qatar reminded many fans of another tumultuous time within the Silver Arrows’ camp from a few years ago. Back in 2016, Hamilton and Rosberg locked horns with each other as tragedy struck during the Spanish GP.
The infamous Mercedes crash in the 2016 Spanish GP
Having started the race in pole position, Hamilton saw his teammate, Rosberg, overtake him at the first corner of Lap 1. Later in the lap, the Briton tried to win his place back but lost control of his car, causing a collision between the two Mercedes cars and sending them both out of the race. Upon analysis, the then-executive chairman of Mercedes, Niki Lauda, claimed it was more of Hamilton’s fault than Rosberg’s.
LAP 1/66: DRAMA!!
ROS goes past HAM
HAM spins, collides with ROS
Both Mercedes OUT!#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Hau7lzWwVW
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 15, 2016
Much like that, the crash in Qatar came through the fault of Hamilton, as he apologized to Russell. Following the crash in 2016, tensions only rose between the teammates, but that is unlikely to happen this time around. Hamilton has grown a lot more mature, and Toto Wolff has learned from his mistakes from the past. As such, the team principal will look to intervene long before things can go beyond repair between the drivers, who will drive alongside each other till the end of the 2025 season.
