© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying collision is not similar to Lewis’ 2016 crash with Nico Rosberg, but “a trivial incident that just looked silly”.
In the closing moments of Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Q2, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were involved in a collision that damaged Lewis’ car.
The two drivers collided when Lewis, who was on a flying lap, attempted to overtake the young Briton. George did not leave any space and forced Lewis off the track, and after the collision Lewis’ front wing picked up damage.
George later explained that he didn’t know Lewis was behind him, and Mercedes said the whole incident happened because of miscommunication.
Toto Wolff agrees with this assessment.
“It’s all down to miscommunications because drivers in the same team don’t want to crash into each other on their final lap in qualifying,” the Austrian said.
“It was just an unfortunate situation that George just launched the lap and Lewis saw it as his last opportunity, and didn’t think that George was on that lap.
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“So it looks silly, but it wasn’t. It was just miscommunication.”
Wolff added the team will look at the situation to prevent it from happening again.
“This is a team’s effort and something in our communications we need to review after the incident to avoid it in the future.
“But it was not a dramatic situation. The car was just not quick enough.”
Asked if the incident had similarities with the famous 2016 Spanish Grand Prix crash between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Wolff said:
“No, it wasn’t shades of 2016. I wish we were in the situation of 2016, where we were losing both cars in lap one because we are so quick.
“In the end, it was a trivial incident that just looked silly,” he concluded.
