Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged his fault for an incident at Les Combes with Fernando Alonso on lap one of Sunday’s Belgium Grand Prix, that saw him retire from his first race of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
The seven-time World Champion got a good start and was able to pass Sergio Pérez at Turn One, as did Alonso. Hamilton got a good run up the hill and attempted a move around the outside of Turn Five, but didn’t leave enough space for his former team-mate. Hamilton’s rear-right wheel made contact with Alonso’s front left, sending the rear of the Briton’s car high in the air, before landing heavily.
Hamilton limped around the circuit, dropping positions, but was instructed to pull over by his team in the final sector. The accident was completely the Mercedes driver’s fault, and no further action was necessary as it was a lap one incident; however, Hamilton would later be warned by the FIA for not attending a mandatory check-up at the medical centre as instructed by a light on his steering wheel. Alonso was able to continue the race and would finish fifth.
Hamilton was understandably disappointed in his post-race interview, explaining that Alonso was in his “blind spot” as he swooped around the outside.
“Looking back at the footage, Fernando was in my blind spot and I thought I left more room than I did, so it was my fault and I paid the price. I’m just sorry for the team, we had a chance of P3 and P4 today,” the number forty-four driver explained.
“The car felt good on the laps to the grid, we’d got it into a good place and I’d made a good start. After three weeks away, I was looking forward to racing today so it’s frustrating, but it is what it is.
“Right now, my job is to focus on the next race, I need to recuperate and get back on the treadmill.”
George Russell finishes fourth, narrowly missing out on podium
George Russell was able to continue his trend of finishing in the top five in every race he has finished so far in the 2022 season. The Briton had a relatively straight-forward race and attempted to catch Carlos Sainz Jr for the final podium place in the final stint – though falling out of the tyres’ optimum window meant he had to settle for fourth.
When asked about his race, the Briton said he had “mixed feelings”:
“I have mixed feelings right now because had you told me last night we will be two seconds off the podium on merit and pure pace, I’d have said that’s a good recovery. When I was closing in on Carlos at the end, a second a lap, I thought here we go – we’re in for a really good shot here. But then I just had two really scrappy laps and got the tyres out of the window.
“When the tyres are in that sweet spot, the car is transformed but as soon as I lost them, I knew the podium was game-over. Overall, considering where we were, P4 and two seconds off the podium – not too bad.
“Today our race pace was probably better than the Ferraris; Carlos started on pole, was leading the first stint and we closed him in both times. So at worst, I think we were equal with Ferrari today, but as we know, it’s swings and roundabouts. What is clear is, Max is cruising away at the moment.”
Belgium has certainly been a tricky weekend for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, who will be hoping for a better result in Zandvoort next week.
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