George Russell has been accused of costing Lewis Hamilton victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, with the seven-time World Champion having been the faster of the two drivers in the closing stages.
The accusations come from a Hamilton supporter, who stated that it was the second time Russell had hampered the 38-year-old’s chances of winning.
Hamilton had been considerably slower than Russell in qualifying and was several tenths off the pace in Q3, leaving the 103-time race winner to start from fifth.
Russell on the other hand, narrowly missed out on pole position and had to settle for second.
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However, Hamilton managed to overtake Russell at the opening corner, but was forced to give the position back due to running off the circuit.
Hamilton insisted that he’d been pushed off the track by his team-mate, something which was clearly disagreed on by the stewards.
To avoid a time penalty, Hamilton allowed Russell and Lando Norris to overtake him, something which in many ways ended his victory chances.
Hamilton never got back ahead of either driver but always remained close to the them, thanks to his pace having been superior when in clean air.
It was the Stevenage-born driver’s strong pace in clean air which saw him get right onto Russell’s gearbox towards the end of the race, whilst Russell was equally right behind Norris and race winner Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton did give Russell the hurry up over the radio, although this had no impact on the 25-year-old’s final lap crash.
Russell was all over the back of Norris on the final lap in the fight for second, whilst Hamilton watched on in fourth.
The King’s Lynn-born driver unfortunately clipped the wall on the way into Turn 10, something which sent him straight into the barrier and out of the race.
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This allowed Hamilton to inherit P3, and yet another career podium.
Despite Hamilton’s positive result, one of his supporters insisted that Russell cost him victory, something he also accused the former Williams driver of doing at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix.
“With Zandvoort last year as well I count that the second time where Hamilton’s teammate has cost him a chance to win the race,” wrote @F1_Jordan on Twitter.