They say it takes a real man (read: person) to realize that they made a mistake but an even better one to try to make things right. That’s exactly what Lewis Hamilton did after he faced ghosts of his past at the Qatar GP. In 2016, Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s rivalry was at its peak. They were fighting each other for the championship, and at the Spanish GP, that fight ended in disaster. The two drivers collided on the first lap and took each other out. An strangely similar first-lap collision happened with his teammate yet again.

A few weeks ago, at the Italian GP, Hamilton practically ruined McLaren driver Oscar Piastri while trying to overtake the rookie. He turned into him and knew then and there that he was at fault. The best part, he admitted it. After the race, Toto Wolff said, “He’s very sportsmanlike with these things. He is the only one I see out there admitting and saying: ‘I got this wrong.’” Hamilton proved the classy champion he is yet again after the Qatar GP.

Lewis Hamilton doubled his apology with a public statement

The Mercedes duo lined up in P2 and P3 for the Qatar GP—George Russell ahead of Hamilton. Mercedes put the seven-time champion on the soft tires for the start while Russell was on the preferred mediums. With the extra grip soft tires almost instantly generate, Hamilton saw an opportunity to overtake not just Russell but also Max Verstappen at Turn 1. While doing so, Russell got caught in a sandwich between the 2021 rivals and had nowhere to go. Hamilton gave him less room than he should’ve and collided with Russell, taking himself out of the race.

Following the ugly crash that led to blames flying all over the Mercedes airwaves, Hamilton gave his verdict after he got out of the car. After he reviewed the footage, he spoke to F1 journalist Lawrence Barretto. He said, “Gutting. Massive apology to everyone back at the factory. It was just probably a racing incident. I take full responsibility for it. I don’t think George had anywhere to go.” Mercedes is in the fight for P2 against Ferrari, and this should’ve been the perfect opportunity to extend its 20-point lead. Instead, it ended with just one Mercedes driver finishing the race.

Hamilton’s apologies didn’t end there, though. Following his interview with Barretto, the seven-time champion posted an update on Twitter (now X). He wrote, “I’ve watched the replay, and it was 100% my fault, and I take full responsibility. Apologies to my team and to George.” The outcome was definitely gutting, especially after the race pace he showed yesterday. During the Sprint, he recovered from P12 to P5 in 19 laps. Seeing that, Wolff told Hamilton, “So Lewis, tomorrow, with a good position, we know what can happen.” Unfortunately for him, what happened was an irreversible trip into the gravel.

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Hamilton may have gotten time to assess after watching the replays. He realized it was his mistake. Russell, on the other hand, saw the replays while racing and just couldn’t accept what had happened.

George Russell vented his frustration over the radio

Mercedes showed great race pace on Saturday during the Sprint. Given their starting positions for Sunday’s race, it should’ve ideally been a Mercedes double-podium. Instead, none of them made it to the top three. As frustrated as Russell was with what happened, what he was more furious about was the fact that this wasn’t the first time the Mercedes boys had come together this year. In fact, it happened at the Japanese GP, where the two of them were fighting each other instead of the Ferraris they should’ve been fighting. Russell ensured he got that across to the team.

As soon as the crash happened, which took him to the back of the field with a puncture, he screamed, “Come on! What the hell! I have got damage. Guys, come on! Two races in a row.” While he was saying this, Hamilton said, “Yeah, I got taken out by my teammate.” But even he’s admitted he was at fault there. Russell’s rant didn’t end there, though. A few laps into the race, he said, “Sorry guys, I wasn’t even looking. I was focused ahead, and he came from nowhere. I am lost for words. Honestly. I have just seen the replays on the TV screen. I couldn’t do anything. Totally sandwiched.”

The young Brit recovered to a brilliant P4 after being plumb last after Lap 1. Not to mention that he managed this with a four-stop strategy! The W14 really did have the race pace to secure those podiums on Sunday. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t meant to be. Do you agree with the judgment Lewis Hamilton made?

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