WATCH: “Sorry about that,” Lewis Hamilton and George Russell hugged out the drama over collision at Qatar GP

Lewis Hamilton missed out on scoring points in bulk at the 2023 Qatar GP.

WATCH: “Sorry about that,” Lewis Hamilton and George Russell hugged out the drama over collision at Qatar GP

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell hugging (Via Mercedes/X)

Yesterday’s night race at the Lusail International circuit has been all over the web for all the wrong reasons. While Max Verstappen secured his fourteenth victory of the 2023 campaign, the event is remembered for the challenging race conditions and, more so, for the lap one collision between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton started the 54-lap race from third place on the grid and had George Russell and Max Verstappen starting ahead of him. As the lights went out, Hamilton got off to a perfect start and was ahead of Russell and Verstappen going into Turn 1 from the outside. However, his rear right tire made contact with his teammate’s W14, and that was the end of the outing for him.

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A lot was said about the situation last night, but Mercedes has recently released a video via its X handle in which the duo can be seen squashing the beef by hugging it out. Moreover, the 38-year-old has taken all the blame for causing the collision and said, “I take full responsibility for it. I don’t think George really had anywhere to go.“

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Lewis Hamilton, since starting his career at the pinnacle of motor racing, has always been the first to accept when he feels he has done something wrong. He has never shied away from taking the blame, and with his actions last night, he has once again proved why he is considered as one of the true gentlemen of the sport.

Discover: WATCH: “Thank you Mercedes,” Oscar Piastri takes another dig at Mercedes for their lap one crash while lying on his back at the Qatar GP cool-down room

Nico Rosberg has defended Lewis Hamilton for the Qatar GP incident

While Lewis Hamilton has taken the blame for causing a collision with his teammate in Lusail, his former teammate, Nico Rosberg, has interestingly come forward and defended his on-track actions. The German feels Hamilton had every right to go aggressively into Turn 1 as he was on the soft tires and had more grip coming out of it.

Nico Rosberg (Credits: Autosport) and Lewis Hamilton (Credits: Planet F1)
Nico Rosberg (Credits: Autosport) and Lewis Hamilton (Credits: Planet F1)

While talking about the same, he told Sky Sports, “Looking at that, Lewis would have gone P1 in think even around the outside, he was already level with Verstappen, he was going so much faster. I think he had a real chance of going P1 after Turn 1. He had a huge chance, he was coming from the outside, had a much wider radius, Verstappen was coming in tight, and by the time they collided, Lewis was level with Verstappen.”

Several pundits have different opinions on last night’s incident but one good thing that has come out of last night for Mercedes is its two drivers hugging it out after the 2023 Qatar GP. Hamilton and Russell have recently signed contract extensions until 2025, and going forward, the German team wants both of them to be on the same page.

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