Bigger Person Lewis Hamilton Reveals Reason for First Lap Chaos With George Russell

Recall how the tensions reached the peak between the Mercedes drivers at the Japanese GP after Russell’s scathing radio message. Well, the breaking point came at the Qatar GP where George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took each other out on Lap 1 going into the first corner. However, days after taking full responsibility for the crash, Hamilton reveals the reason behind what actually happened during the crash. Let’s see what the Briton has to say.

Lewis Hamilton was all fired up for taking the fight to Max Verstappen at the Qatar GP. The same was heard in his comments after the qualifying as he spoke about doing his best to beat the Dutchman. However, his race got over even before making the first corner, as he tried to make a move on the outside of Russell. The Briton lost one of his rear wheels and was beached in the gravel.

While Hamilton initially sounded frustrated on the radio, he later came out to publicly apologize to his team and Russell and took full responsibility for the crash. The 7X champ then advised on the reason behind the crash. He explained how he was on the inferior rubber compared to the ones around him and his eagerness to make up place and overtake Verstappen & Russell caused the accident.

According to Sky Italy, Lewis Hamilton, during the post-race interviews, said, “I was trying to get ahead of both of them and just an unfortunate situation. I had the worst tire of everyone around me, so I needed to try and get ahead. Big risk, big penalty. So this is definitely unfortunate and I’m sure he was frustrated at the moment like I was. But we will talk about it offline, and we move forward. As I said, just apologize to all of the team.”

George Russell, despite being heavily compromised during the race because of Hamilton’s error, seems to have accepted the apology. The 7X Champ also took the opportunity to comment on his relationship status with Russell.

Read More: Toto Wolff’s $8,000,000 Gamble Blows Up in Face as “Out of Control” George Russell-Lewis Hamilton Tipped Disastrous by Ex Ferrari Boss

“The Relationship isn’t Broken”: Lewis Hamilton puts rumors to bed.

Many speculations were made after the Japanese GP about Lewis Hamilton and George Russell not seeing eye to eye. Some even advised that Russell wants to be the No.1 driver at Mercedes. And the crash at the Qatar GP was only going to add fuel to that fire. Nonetheless, Lewis Hamilton being the smarty pants that he is, handled the situation and put all the broken relationship rumors to bed. 

Speaking with Sky Italy, Lewis Hamilton commented on his relationship with Russell post the crash. He said, “The relationship isn’t broken. I don’t have any problems with George, we have a great relationship, we work and we always talk about things.”

WATCH THIS STORY | Lewis Hamilton and George Russell slapped with a brutal reality check amid resurrection rumors

It’s been a heated couple of weeks at Brackley with some signs of a bubbling rivalry that may spill over Mercedes’ ambitions. Certainly, Hamilton & Russell know what they are working toward to avoid stepping on each other’s toes ala Qatar. Still, do you think, another Silver War is brewing in F1?