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George Russell recently spoke about his collision with Lewis Hamilton at the start of the 2023 F1 Qatar GP. The two Mercedes drivers had a major shunt with each other in the first turn of the first lap, which ended the race for Hamilton and ruined a strong position for Russell.
By the looks of the move, it was clear that the seven-time world champion was at fault in the incident and apologized to Russell for it. After the race, George Russell spoke about the incident and was quite positive about it, stating that he and Hamilton have massive respect for one another and that they will discuss the situation and resolve it. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:
"We both had the possibility of standing on the podium. Obviously nothing intentional both ways. These cars are so difficult to see when you are racing - there's big blind spots. We both have so much respect for one another. We will go past this and I'm sure we will speak and everything will be OK."
Later on, the younger Mercedes driver revealed how the team discussed letting Lewis Hamilton ahead since he was on soft tires, but the move was not entirely possible on the first lap since several cars squeezed through the same corner. George Russell wants both him and his teammate to stand on the podium and help Mercedes in the constructors' championship.
He concluded:
"We spoke about it. From our side, I said this morning, I just want us both to be standing on that podium. My goal now is to try and get P2 for the team (in the constructors' championship). We spoke about Lewis getting ahead at Turn 1. It was just a very difficult situation. Lots of positives to take away."
Lewis Hamilton apologizes to George Russell for the accident at the 2023 F1 Qatar GP
After the race ended in Lusail, Lewis Hamilton was seen in a video approaching George Russell, hugging him, and apologizing to him for the crash in the first lap of the race. Russell also looked quite calm and accepted the apology. In the video, the seven-time world champion said:
"Sorry about today, it wasn't your fault. Great job."
This shows that there are no hard feelings between the two Mercedes drivers and that they want each other to excel and help the team move forward. Despite the collision throwing George Russell in P18, the Briton had an exceptional recovery race and secured P4 at the end.
