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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell made contact on the opening lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, sending the seven-time world champion spinning into the gravel.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old was starting on the faster soft compound tyres, attempting to capitalise on his excellent launch by sending a move around the outside of his team-mate at turn one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Russell picked up damage from the incident, forcing him to pit for a front wing change as well as new tyres, while Hamilton’s race was over with his car beached in the gravel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hamilton was less than happy with his team-mate for not giving him more room, stating over the radio: “Yeah, I got taken out by my own team-mate.”<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive F1 news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> George Russell ignites Max Verstappen fight after World Championship confirmed[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n Russell was also furious with the incident, unleashing his frustrations in a conversation with his engineer. He raged: “Come on! What the hell? Guys, come on. Two races in a row!”<\/p>\n With the safety car coming to an end and multiple cars coming into the pit lane Russell’s race was in tatters with the 25-year-old sitting down in P14 at the restart.<\/p>\n While Hamilton was quick to lay the blame at Russell’s feet, Karun Chandhok disagreed on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast. The former F1 driver explained: “Russell had no wiggle room.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n “He couldn’t move to the right because Verstappen was there. Lewis has gone around the outside for the lunge and made that contact.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Russell’s disbelief was confounded after he saw the incident on one of the screens, complaining over the radio: “Lost for words, honestly. I’ve just seen the replays on the TV screen. I couldn’t do anything. I was totally sandwiched.”<\/p>\n
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Oscar Piastri laughs at Qatar GP blunder as Lando Norris left frustrated[MCLAREN] <\/strong>
Nico Rosberg brutally calls out Lance Stroll after awkward Qatar GP TV interview[STROLL] <\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/73\/590x\/secondary\/Lewis-Hamilton-crash-5000985.jpg?r=1696785923116\")
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