Russell rues”missed opportunity”; accepts Hamilton’s apology
Mercedes driver accepts Lewis Hamilton’s apology after their first lap mess.
George Russell believes the Qatar Grand Prix was a “missed opportunity” for Mercedes after he collided with Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap. The pair were close at Turn 1 as Hamilton got the better start on the soft tyres. As they passed side by side, Hamilton clipped Russell’s left front, sending them both off the track.
Although Russell was able to continue, Hamilton was there. Russell climbed back through the field to fourth and scored 12 points, allowing Mercedes to overtake Ferrari in the battle for second place in the constructors’ standings, with Charles Leclerc finishing fifth and Carlos Sainz not starting with a fuel pump problem. But the Briton felt he would have offered more had the collision with Hamilton not happened. Russell “appreciates” Hamilton’s apology “It’s frustrating because it was a big missed opportunity for us, we have one goal and that’s P2 in the constructors’ championship,”
We talked a lot this morning about how we will work together, the battle was not between us and Ferrari. “Fortunately we still got more points than them this weekend, but Lewis and I have a huge amount of points. respect for each other. Nothing was intentional on either side.”
Hamilton took responsibility for the shunt, which Russell accepted despite potentially missing the podium. “I certainly appreciate his apology, as I say on the radio at any event where there are two people,” Russell said.
“I was devastated by the team’s result, the drivers’ championship was an absolute disaster. “We had one goal, which was to get P2 in the constructors’ championship, and we missed a big opportunity, but I still have full confidence. that we can achieve it.
We still have positivity because the car was fast, we had a very strong race, there are some updates coming in the last races of the season.”
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