Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has agreed with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell that their collision during Q2 at the Spanish Grand Prix was due to “miscommunication”, with a “review” set to take place to investigate what went wrong.
Hamilton was squeezed off the circuit by Russell down the start/finish straight in the closing moments of Q2, with the former Williams driver having been unaware that his team-mate was alongside him.
Russell was busy dealing with Carlos Sainz ahead of him, meaning he hadn’t seen Russell pull to his left-hand side.
As Russell moved back over onto the racing line, he squeezed Hamilton onto the dirt at high-speed.
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Contact was made between the pair, with Hamilton’s front wing having been broken.
Thankfully though, that was able to simply be replaced, with the Silver Arrows having escaped what could’ve been a horrific incident.
Wolff discussed the incident after qualifying and admitted it was due to a communication error, something both Russell and Hamilton had also revealed.
“It’s all down to miscommunication because drivers in the same team don’t want to crash into each other on their final lap in qualifying,” Wolff said after qualifying.
“So it was just an unfortunate situation that George just launched the lap, and Lewis saw it as his last opportunity and didn’t think that George was on that lap.
“It looks silly but it wasn’t. It was just miscommunication.”
Wolff went on to reveal that the Silver Arrows are planning a full “review” to avoid a repeat of the coming together in the future, something which will likely please both drivers.
“This is a team effort and there is something in our communications we need to review after that incident to avoid it in the future.
“Again, it was a miscommunication – they didn’t know the other one was there, but I’m not going to tell you someone didn’t do his job because we all do our best.”
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The incident ended up costing Russell hugely, with the Briton having been eliminated in Q2.
Russell will start Sunday’s race from twelfth on the grid, whilst Hamilton will start from fourth after successfully navigating his way into Q3.
Hamilton arguably stands a great chance of claiming a second podium of the season, with the seven-time World Champion having secured his first back at the Australian Grand Prix.