Russell blames Mercedes for collision with team-mate Hamilton at Spanish GP qualifying
‘It shouldn’t happen’: George Russell blames Mercedes for its ‘really dangerous’ collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton during qualifying for the Spanish GP and demands internal talks to improve ‘communication’
- Russell and Hamilton collided during qualifying for the Spanish GP on Saturday
- After the collision, Russell slammed his team and demanded ‘internal talks’
George Russell has blamed his team after the collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton and demanded internal talks after the incident.
The Briton has it all going as he is about to start 12th on the grid after a miserable performance, failing to make the final part of qualifying.
Speak against The mirrorRussell pointed the finger at his team and defended his innocence after forcing Hamilton onto the grass in a tight corner.
“It was just a huge miscommunication,” he revealed. “I looked ahead and tried to get Carlos into the slipstream [Sainz] and then Lewis was there.
“So we have to talk internally about how that happened, because it should never be between two teammates. It was neither [driver’s] debt.
George Russell (L) and Lewis Hamilton (R) collided during the qualifying session in Spain
Hamilton described the collision as ‘really dangerous’ but does not hold Russell responsible
Russell berated Mercedes for the incident and admitted that communication should be better
“Nothing from either driver was necessarily wrong, it just shouldn’t happen within the team and communication should be better.”
The driver continued to admit that he believed his car’s set-up had led to his failure and knew he would perform poorly before taking to the track.
He continued: “We made a few minor changes from FP3 into qualifying and the car bounced.
“The high-speed corners that punctured easily in practice, I couldn’t puncture, the tires didn’t work and it all went wrong.
“In Q1 I knew we wouldn’t have a good day, it was strange. We should take advantage of such conditions, as we usually do – the team is very good when it is challenging.
“It was pretty telling in the first round in Q1 [Nico] Hulkenberg P1, one and a half seconds faster than we could get.
“I tried all kinds of things on the out lap, all kinds of pressure, and we probably just got a little confused. A set-up change we made in qualifying was definitely the wrong direction for these cold, damp, greasy conditions, which is a shame, especially as I think we have a fast race car.”
Hamilton himself described the collision as ‘really dangerous’, but luckily both drivers came out unscathed and will try to put the incident behind them and move on as a team.