Lewis Hamilton makes feelings crystal clear on George Russell 'problems' after Qatar Grand Prix crash
Lewis Hamilton struggled at the Qatar Grand Prix
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Lewis Hamilton has made it clear he has no 'problems' with George Russell.
The two British drivers were livid over the weekend after they collided on the first lap of the Qatar Grand Prix.
That incident came just two weeks after Hamilton had irked Russell at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Initially, after the crash in Qatar, the seven-time F1 champion seemed to blame Russell.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collided at the Grand Prix in Qatar
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However, he's now performed a U-turn and clarified their relationship - insisting they got all and all is well behind the scenes.
“I think we are a great team. George and I still have a great relationship. We will discuss things and work away,” the Stevenage-born racer told Sky Italy.
“I’m happy to take responsibility as the older guy.
"I don’t think George had anywhere to go at that point.
“I was trying to get ahead of both of them and just an unfortunate situation.
However, he's now performed a U-turn and clarified their relationship - insisting they got all and all is well behind the scenes.
“I think we are a great team. George and I still have a great relationship. We will discuss things and work away,” the Stevenage-born racer told Sky Italy.
“I’m happy to take responsibility as the older guy.
"I don’t think George had anywhere to go at that point.
“I was trying to get ahead of both of them and just an unfortunate situation.
Toto Wolff wasn't at the race in Qatar, with Mercedes team communications chief Bradley Lord overseeing the race instead.
And he's refused to pick a side in the argument between Hamilton and Russell, though did praise the former for accepting responsibility.
“I don’t think it’s my job to sit here and put responsibility on one side or the other,” he said.
“The drivers know far better than me how they conduct themselves on track.
“What I would say is that Lewis doing that and being able to have the strength of character to come out and speak as he has done shows that Champions aren’t just made in the winning moments, but also in the most difficult ones.
"It speaks volumes to his strength of character that he is able to do that.”
One man who knows what it's like to partner Hamilton is Nico Rosberg.
The pair had a tense relationship at Mercedes before the German retired from F1 in 2016.
And Rosberg believes the crash at the weekend was definitely the fault of his own rival, rather than Russell.
"It was 100 per cent Lewis' error. It's a slight misjudgement," he said.
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Lewis Hamilton insists he has a positive relationship with F1 team-mate George Russell
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"Not a big misjudgement. He doesn't leave quite enough space for George.
"It's all on Lewis, which he has already admitted to."
Another Sky F1 pundit, Karun Chandhok, agreed by saying: "Russell had no wiggle room.
"He couldn't move to the right because Verstappen was there. Lewis has gone around the outside for the lunge and made that contact.
"Verstappen was where he was, he didn't move, and Russell couldn't move. The point is, out of those two drivers, George couldn't have given Lewis more room but Lewis could have given more room."
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