Nico Rosberg wants to see Lewis Hamilton follow in George Russell’s footsteps by issuing an apology to his team-mate after the strange collision between the two Mercedes drivers in qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix. It ended up being a strange qualifying session in Barcelona with Charles Leclerc going out in Q1 while Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz made up the top three with Max Verstappen on pole.
It was also eventful for Mercedes, who looked at one point to be Verstappen’s closest challenger with Hamilton. Russell was unable to find the pace his team-mate was managing though and was fortunate to get into Q2.
He failed to improve though with the Brit seen fighting the car throughout to try and make it into the top 10. And there was a bizarre incident between the two drivers at the end of Q2 with both drivers getting ready for a final lap run.
Russell was moving out of the slip stream of a Ferrari in front of him over to the left of the track and seemingly didn’t see Hamilton making his way through. The pair ended up colliding with Hamilton losing the end plate on his front wing.
Russell apologised on team radio after the incident but there was no reports that Hamilton offered his apologies as well. And Rosberg feels Hamilton should be apologetic to his team-mate as the incident may have hampered Russell’s final run.
“So George apologised, which I think is right, but I think Lewis also needs to apologise,” Rosberg said. “If Lewis goes through, George’s lap is done because Lewis is right in front and then George will be stuck behind him and his lap will be ruined and it’s his last try to get into Q3.
“So also Lewis will need to apologise later on.”
Mercedes communication director Bradley Lord explained after Q2 that it was a case of “miscommunication”. “George was aborting one lap and was trying to get track position for his flying lap while Lewis came up behind him and started his as well,” he said.
“Miscommunication between the two. Tricky situation and never something you want to see on track between the team’s two cars.” And Russell gave an explanation on the incident after his session, brushing it off as nothing major.
“I wasn’t even aware he was there,” he said. “I was starting my lap trying to take the slip stream from the Ferrari and fortunate nothing bad happened.”
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