"It was 100 percent Lewis' error": F1 pundit lays the blame entirely on Lewis Hamilton for the first lap crash with George Russell

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg believes that Lewis Hamilton was completely at fault for his Lap 1 crash with Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Hamilton started the race from P3, behind his teammate and three-time world champion Max Verstappen on the grid, in Doha. The seven-time world champion made a better getaway as he was starting on soft tires and on the cleaner side and was presented with the opportunity to take the lead heading into turn one.

However, Hamilton turned in a bit too quickly on the apex and hit his teammate, whose W14 was damaged from the crash while he had to retire after his tire went off. Speaking with Sky Sports, Nico Rosberg put the blame firmly on Lewis Hamilton and said:

“So Lewis had soft tires, so he just tries to go around the outside, but it’s three people going into Turn 1, and it was 100% Lewis’ error there. It’s a slight misjudgment, and it’s not a big misjudgment, a slight misjudgment, doesn’t leave quite enough space for George there, so it’s all on Lewis – which actually he already admitted to, he kind of took responsibility for it.”

George Russell reacts to the crash with Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes driver George Russell stated that there was no bad blood between him and Lewis Hamilton, as they were both trying to secure podium finishes and the clash was entirely unintentional.

Russell said:

"We both had the possibility of standing on the podium. Obviously nothing intentional both ways. These cars are so difficult to see when you are racing - there are big blind spots. We both have so much respect for one another. We will go past this and I'm sure we will speak and everything will be OK."

Russell also spoke about how they had discussed Lewis Hamilton's soft tire start and added:

"We spoke about it. From our side, I said this morning, I just want us both to be standing on that podium. My goal now is to try and get P2 for the team. We spoke about Lewis getting ahead at Turn 1. It was just a very difficult situation. Lots of positives to take away."

Despite the unfortunate crash, the Mercedes W14 showed impressive pace on Sunday as Russell managed to secure a P4 finish, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.