Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix for Red Bull with another commanding drive but it was Lewis Hamilton hitting his Mercedes team-mate George Russell that delivered the drama. Each driver initially blamed the other before Hamilton held his hands up for causing the crash that put him out of the race.
What was supposed to be a celebratory coronation for Verstappen, who took his third title on Saturday, was also overshadowed by an embarrassing fiasco over tyre safety concerns at the Lusail International Circuit.
The win was once more completely in Verstappen’s control at the front as he beat the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris into second and third, with Piastri doing superbly in taking his best GP finish having also won the sprint on Saturday.
However, it was the opening lap clash between Hamilton and Russell that will likely prove a flashpoint with greater ramifications.
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Verstappen had held his lead into turn one but with Hamilton trying to go around the outside of Russell the pair touched and Hamilton spun off, losing his right rear wheel. Hamilton was turning in on Russell who had nowhere to go with Verstappen on his inside.
Both drivers accused the other. “Come on what the hell, two races in a row,” said Russell, referring to how Hamilton pushed him wide at the last round in Suzuka. “I got taken out by my own team-mate,” said Hamilton. The stewards announced they would investigate the incident after the race.
Russell did apologise to the team but insisted he had nowhere to go. “Sorry guys. I wasn’t even looking behind,” he said. “I was just focused ahead and he just came from nowhere.”
It is the first time Hamilton has gone out of a race after clashing with a team-mate since Nico Rosberg hit him, taking them both out at Spain in 2016. When he had returned to the paddock Hamilton admitted he was at fault.
“I didn’t really understand what happened,” he said. “I just felt the tap from behind, I don’t think George probably had anywhere to go, I am happy to take responsibility. It is massively gutting to have a result like this.”
Russell was also given a warning by the stewards in qualifying for the Spanish GP earlier this year when he changed direction suddenly and hit Hamilton. In a season where they have struggled for pace and are fighting to secure second in the constructors’ championship, the two drivers hitting one another from second and third on the grid is a scenario the team may well deem unacceptable.
When Hamilton was in his tight battle with Rosberg, which also included Rosberg hitting Hamilton at Spa in 2014 and incidents in Austria, Canada and Japan, the team were forced to impose stricter rules of engagement on the pair, which stipulated they were free to race but very much only within the confines of not taking one another out. There will certainly be the potential for the team to once more have to impose boundaries on their drivers.
The relationship between Hamilton and Russell has been respectful and friendly but this incident will put pressure on them both. Hamilton had been friends with Rosberg when they were younger but their friendship fell apart amid an increasingly fractious relationship as they fought one another on track.
Russell is in his fifth season in F1 and has made it clear he will not be intimidated by Hamilton and that he will race as hard as necessary. He went on to return a very solid comeback at Qatar to secure fourth place but the team will require a serious debrief with both drivers. Mercedes have ambitions to be challenging Red Bull again next season and, if they do so, will be able to ill-afford dropping points from cross-garage incidents.
F1 too must consider how it managed to end up racing on a circuit that raised such serious concerns that it was forced to impose mandatory tyre use limits for the race that left the sport, a multibillion dollar global business, looking amateurish.
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli had identified the problem on Friday evening, that the 50mm “pyramid” kerbs used at Lusail were damaging the sidewalls to the extent they risked causing a blow out. The FIA imposed an 18-lap maximum use for the GP but drivers were unhappy such measures were necessary, instead arguing the kerbs should have been dealt with.
The Lusail circuit held its only previous race in 2021, where there were a spate of tyre failures, identified by Pirelli at the time as being caused by the kerbs. The track was since adjudged as safe to use but no F1 car had run there before Friday nor had there been any other events that might have flagged up potential problems.
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso sixth for Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon in seventh for Alpine, Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou in eighth and ninth for Alfa Romeo and Sergio Pérez in 10th for Red Bull. – Guardian
