By Alan Baldwin
DOHA (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton accused Mercedes team mate George Russell of taking him out of the Qatar Grand Prix after the two collided at the first corner of the opening lap on Sunday.
Russell continued after a pitstop but Hamilton’s car ended up in the gravel minus a rear wheel.
“I got taken out by my own team mate,” said the seven times Formula One world champion over the radio.
Hamilton had complained before the start that lining up on soft tyres made him a ‘sitting duck’ for others but he did not get far enough to find out.
He tried to go around Russell on the outside but his rear right wheel made contact with the front left of the younger Briton’s car, spinning both around.
“Come on! What the …,” exclaimed Russell as he made his way back to the pits with the safety car deployed.
“I’m so sorry guys. I wasn’t even looking behind,” he added. “I was just focused ahead and he just came from nowhere.
“Lost for words, honestly,” he said a bit later. “I’ve just seen the replays on the TV screen. I couldn’t do anything. I was totally sandwiched.”
Team boss Toto Wolff, who is not in Qatar due to recent knee surgery, then came on the radio to tell Russell to focus on the race.
Russell had started second on the grid with Hamilton third and looking likely to increase the 26 point gap between them and third-placed Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari had already lost Carlos Sainz before the start to a fuel system problem.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)
