Lewis Hamilton accused George Russell of a ‘dangerous’ move when the two Mercedes men collided at 320km/h during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The bizarre collision happened when the teammates were all doing flying laps at the end of Q2. Hamilton damaged his front wing on the convergence before qualifying fifth, later upgraded to fourth when Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was demoted for blocking. Russell went out and starts 12th today.
“George just backed up,” exclaimed Hamilton after Russell unwittingly entered his path on the straight as he passed Ferrari’s then slow-moving Carlos Sainz. ‘That’s really dangerous. He stopped to the left.’
Hamilton had thought Russell was dragging him and that he could keep the race line entering the braking zone entering the opening right hand corner before Russell unexpectedly crossed his path.
Russell, whose move forced Hamilton to the grass verge, said, “You didn’t tell me there was a car behind.”
Lewis Hamilton (above) accused his team-mate of dangerous driving at the Spanish Grand Prix
George Russell’s Mercedes collided with Hamilton’s at 200 mph during a chaotic qualifying lap
Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday
The two men spoke afterwards and Hamilton reported that they had shaken hands. Both were called to the stewards. Russell was given a formal warning for not checking his mirrors, officials said.
Mercedes immediately tried to defuse the situation by blaming a vague communication error.
The team also explained that the drivers were close together on track because Russell, who had been struggling all afternoon in a bouncing car, had aborted his previous flying lap.
The Mercedes duo have never clashed before in their partnership and there was no clear hint of malice on either side. But whether Russell was unaware of a car – whether he knew it belonged to Hamilton or not – in his gearbox is a moot point. He certainly needed a clear path to improve his time for a chance to tempt himself in Q3.
For team boss Toto Wolff, there were faint echoes of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashing on the first lap in Barcelona seven years ago. Wolff then threatened the bitter rivals with a suspension if they continued to crash into each other.
The Red Bull driver and reigning champion starts on pole after a manic qualifying session
Russell will start in a disappointing 12th place after almost having an incident with teammate Hamilton
Carlos Sainz (right) joins Verstappen in the front line, while Lando Norris (left) starts third
This time, in a much less polluted environment, the Austrian said of the incident: “It shouldn’t happen. Teammates must never collide, not even with another car in qualifying.
“This is a team effort and we need to review something in our communication to avoid this in the future.”
Outside of the crash, Sainz qualified second and Lando Norris third for McLaren.
Verstappen’s teammate and closest title rival Sergio Perez was only eleventh. “Incredible,” said the Mexican, who went into the weekend after a miserable Monaco experience, and is 39 points behind the defending champion in the standings.
It was an even worse day for Charles Leclerc, who qualified 19th after taking pole here a year ago. The Ferrari man complained about his car’s handling and failed to set a satisfactory lap on a drying track.
Hamilton impressed at times and was fastest in Q2, but will start fifth in his upgraded car
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will have to start tomorrow from 19th after a crash in Q1
“It was impossible to drive through the left corners,” Leclerc complained afterwards. “Very, very weird.” He is expected to start from the pit lane.
Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck de Vries and Valtteri Bottas all took off in the slippery early stages, as did Fernando Alonso in the fast final corner, now stripped of the chicane.
There was a nine minute delay as the gravel thrown up by those offs was cleared. What now? Bad light stops playing? Browse the racing line?
Alonso, the local hero, was a disappointing ninth fastest time for Aston Martin.