Hamilton apologises: 'George had nowhere to go'

With Sergio Perez starting from the pits, it was a prime opportunity for Lewis Hamilton to move closer to the Mexican in the championship. But the Briton found himself in the gravel trap before the end of the first lap. A clash with his teammate George Russell meant Hamilton found his Waterloo early on.

While Russell was on the track trying to limit the damage for Mercedes, Hamilton was already speaking to the media. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, "Really sorry to my team. It was a chance today to get some points. I didn't really understand what happened. Felt a tap from behind. But I don't think George had anywhere to go. I'm happy to take responsibility. Everyone is working incredibly hard, so it's massively gutting to have a result like this. It's rare this happens for me. I hope George can get back into the points today so I'm supporting him," Hamilton said.

George Russell obviously could not comment yet, but his on-board radio shows he could be guilty as well. He apologised several times to his team. In the end, Toto Wolff had to come on the radio to tell Russell to just carry on racing. Wolff is missing from Qatar as he recovers from recovery surgery at home in Monaco.