The biggest story to come out of the Qatar GP weekend was Max Verstappen winning his third consecutive Drivers’ Championship. A close second was probably a tie between two happenings—one, Oscar Piastri winning his first (Sprint) race in F1 and securing his best season result with a P2 in the main race. And two, the incident led to Piastri cruising to his second podium on the bounce. What happened in the incident? In 2016 Spanish GP fashion, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collided on Lap 1 of the race.

Throughout the weekend, George Russell had the upper hand on Lewis Hamilton. He outperformed the seven-time champion in every competitive session of the weekend—qualifying, the Sprint Shootout, the Sprint, and the main race. Well, the main race was more of a ‘what could’ve been’ situation. Russell in P2 started on the medium tires, and Hamilton in P3 started on the softs. On the faster and grippier softs, Hamilton got off the line better and was almost ahead of Russell and Verstappen going into Turn 1. He saw the opportunity to take the lead, took it, and ended up crashing into Russell. While Hamilton’s race was over on the spot, Russell continued to finish in P4.

The Qatar GP was a missed opportunity for Mercedes in its fight for P2 in the championship. Had it not been for the first-lap incident, it’s safe to assume that both drivers would’ve finished in the top five. Instead, Hamilton ended his race in the gravel, and Russell—confident of a podium—had to settle for P4. Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, assessed the weekend on Mercedes’ YouTube channel. He said, “We discussed the start tire choice with both drivers on Sunday morning, and there was always going to be a chance that Lewis on the soft tire was going to get a better start and overtake George before Turn 1.”

Bigger Person Lewis Hamilton Reveals Reason for First Lap Chaos With George Russell

“That was always considered. But they were aware they were on different strategies. It was important that they didn’t lose time racing each other, and that was clear. But, we weren’t imposing team orders in the race, and what happened at Turn 1 was simply a mistake,” Shovlin added. While everyone at Mercedes accepted the situation for what it was, fans on X were having none of Shovlin’s excuses.

“Amateurish” Mercedes set Lewis Hamilton up for failure “without team orders”

This rivalry between Hamilton and Russell has been building up for a while. There were tiny sparks during the Singapore GP that turned into a massive fire at the Japanese GP. It was Mercedes versus Mercedes on track instead of what should’ve been Mercedes versus Ferrari. At the Qatar GP, everything blew up with the first lap collision. As furious as Mercedes fans were after the crash, Andrew Shovlin’s analysis only fueled their fiery anger.

Most fans believed team orders should’ve been given. The drivers were on different strategies; the past few races hadn’t been the smoothest for them. Given that (and that Hamilton would’ve always been faster off the line), Mercedes made a fool out of itself.

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At this point, finishing ahead of Ferrari is all that Mercedes wants. To achieve that, the drivers need to work together. After the collision, many felt Russell was at fault because he knew Hamilton would be right there and still “defended.” Even though that wasn’t the case, the collision ensured Mercedes lost crucial points. Why? Because it shied away from imposing team orders.

Ferrari isn’t known to be the best at executing strategies, but one user feels the Scuderia is doing a better job than Mercedes.

The race was a case of ‘what could’ve been.’ Had it not been for the crash, could Hamilton have taken the lead? Had they avoided each other, Mercedes would’ve most likely been closest to Verstappen, given the W14’s race pace.

One user explained how team orders were necessary going into Turn 1. The team made a mistake by not imposing them.

Teams sit through hours of briefings to come up with strategies. Shouldn’t they have ensured everything was in place before the race started—team orders included? All of it pointed to “weak leadership.”

On the formation lap, Hamilton said, “I’m a sitting duck to all these guys [on the mediums].” The softs weren’t the right decision, and Hamilton knew it. Mercedes knew it would give him a better start but still didn’t impose team orders. 

What was your take on the entire situation with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell?

Watch This Story: Lewis Hamilton Gets Past Flashbacks Against George Russell at the 2023 Spanish GP