‘It shouldn’t happen’: George Russell blames Mercedes for ‘really dangerous’ crash with team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Spanish GP qualifying, urges internal talks to improve ‘communication’
- Russell and Hamilton clashed in qualifying for the Spanish GP on Saturday
- After the collision, Russell slammed his team and demanded ‘internal talks’
George Russell blamed his team after colliding with team-mate Lewis Hamilton and demanded internal talks after the incident.
The Briton has everything to do as he is set to start 12th on the grid after a miserable performance, failing to qualify for the final part of qualifying.
Talk to 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 misunderstanding,” he revealed. ‘I was looking ahead trying to get Carlos’ wake [Sainz] and the next thing Lewis was there.
“So we have to talk internally about how it happened, because between two teammates it should never be the case.” It was neither [driver’s] default.
George Russell (L) and Lewis Hamilton (R) clash during the qualifying session in Spain
Hamilton described the collision as ‘really dangerous’ but does not hold Russell responsible
Russell slammed Mercedes for the incident and admitted communication should be better
“Nothing from either driver was necessarily bad, just within the team it shouldn’t happen and the communication should be better.”
The driver continued to admit that he believed his car setup led to his failure and knew he was going to perform poorly before he hit the track.
He continued: “We made some small changes between FP3 and qualifying and the car was bouncing back.
“The high-speed corners that were easy flat in practice, I couldn’t take a flat, the tires didn’t work and it all went wrong.
“In Q1 I knew we weren’t going to have a good day, it was strange. We should capitalize on conditions like that, we usually do – the team are very good when it’s difficult.
“It was quite revealing of the first round of Q1 with [Nico] Hulkenberg P1, a second and a half faster than we could achieve.
“I was trying all kinds of things on the exit lap, all kinds of pressures, and we probably got a little confused. A set-up change we made in qualifying was definitely the wrong direction for these cold, wet and greasy conditions, which is a shame, especially because I think we have a fast race car.
Hamilton himself described the collision as “really dangerous”, but luckily both drivers escaped unscathed and will try to put the incident behind them and move on as a team.
