Mercedes has announced a review of its team communications, after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton “tripped each other up” at the Belgian GP.
Both Silver Arrows drivers were dissatisfied with their team following the sprint shootout at Spa-Francorchamps.
Hamilton was said to be particularly infuriated by poor communication issues.
The seven-time world champion was in provisional pole position after the first run in the final session of sprint qualifying.
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The 38-year-old felt certain he would be able to obtain a front-row grid start from this position.
However, both drivers were compromised during the last lap, with Russell impeding Hamilton as they exited La Source.
The ‘tripping up’ between the teammates continued through the Eau Rouge and Raidillon sections of the track.
This mishap led to the duo failing to set a competitive time on the second run – they ended up starting seventh and tenth on the grid, respectively.
They finished seventh and eighth in the sprint race, which was shortened due to adverse weather conditions.
Meanwhile, in the main event, Hamilton missed out on a podium spot yet again as he took fourth place – Russell placed in sixth.
Mercedes chief technical officer, Mike Elliott, commented: “When you have a track that is drying it is nearly always the case the quickest lap is going to be the very last lap of the run.
“So your first laps are about getting a banker lap in.
“Then as you get to the end of the session you want to be at the right place so you are just about crossing the line at the end of the session with your tyres in the right window.”
Elliott elaborated on what went wrong from there.
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He said: “In the last corners, 18 and 19, where you get to open the lap there was a lot of queuing, a lot of cars there.
“We were worried about getting over the line before the session ended, and we were asking our drivers to speed up.
“They thought they had less time available than they really did and as a result of that, we ended up with our two cars too close together.”