Michael Schumacher’s brother, Ralf Schumacher, believes Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff will have to ‘intervene now’ after Lewis Hamilton drove into the side of George Russell on the opening lap of the Qatar Grand Prix. Hamilton came off worst of the two as the seven-time world champion crashed out of the race, but Russell’s Grand Prix was also jeopardised as he fell down the order.
It wrecked Mercedes’ hopes of having at least one car on the podium with both starting second and third on the grid. While both Hamilton and Russell were fired up on team radio immediately after the collision, the pair appeared to have calmed down after the race with no signs of trouble between them.
Hamilton took responsibility for the crash with Russell seemingly content with the apology. But Schumacher believes Mercedes will still need to have words with both their drivers to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“Lewis gives in too early, simply doesn’t give George enough space,” Schumacher told Sky Germany. “The Mercedes were strong, they threw away good points.
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“There’s a bit of work to be done between the two now. You can deal with each other either way, the team has to intervene now and they will.”
Rosberg agreed with the consensus that Hamilton was to blame, but downplayed any possibility of the current Mercedes team-mates falling out over the mistake. “There’s not that much to discuss. It’s relatively one-sided,” he said.
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“Lewis tried it on the outside because he had the soft tires. He was very fast, had a lot of grip. But then he misjudged something, he pulled in a little too early.
“The mistake wasn’t a big one, but it had big consequences. Of course, something like that shouldn’t happen.”
Rosberg and Hamilton ended up falling out during their time together at Mercedes with the pair butting heads on and off the track at times. Mercedes team principal Wolff will not want a similar situation to arise between his current drivers though, especially if they’re fighting for race wins.
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