Lewis Hamilton takes action as George Russell furious after ‘dangerous’ incident | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton says he will send his former team-mate George Russell a text message after the pair collided at the Belgian Grand Prix. An incident ended Russell’s race on the first lap as his Mercedes got beached in the gravel at Les Combes. Ferrari driver Hamilton was later handed a five-second penalty for his role in the coming-together. Russell was devastated as his third race without points in his last six allowed team-mate Kimi Antonelli to move 50 points clear of the Brit.

And seven-time world champion Hamilton said: “I’ll text him later on because we won’t get to see [each other]. Everyone rushes out it here. I was thinking that’s the last thing you ever want to do is come together with your teammate or with your old team who you highly respect.” Russell was left furious after his Spa-Francorchamps weekend ended in disappointment. But not with Hamilton, and rather his team, after a battery problem left him helpless down the Kemmel Straight.

The title hopeful said: “For whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at turn one. So, I went around the first corner, the battery didn’t charge, and I exited the first corner 35 per cent down.

“Because of that, because it didn’t charge, I also had a boost problem; the turbo didn’t sort itself out, so I had no power. So I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0 per cent on the battery.

“Quite frankly, it was dangerous, you know. I got swamped by three cars. I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, and that’s why I’m most angry. The incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident.

“He didn’t do it on purpose. He was more to blame than I, but he didn’t do anything reckless. That was one of those things. I’m just most angry that I was in that position in the first place.

“I was in a great position after turn one, and I was ready to fight the two guys ahead of me up to turn five. Instead, I get swamped by three drivers. I’m numb to the disappointment now. When it happens so often, you just get used to it.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur agreed with Russell that Hamilton did not deserve his penalty. He said: “I think it’s a bit harsh because it’s Lap 1, so far into the season there was no penalty [for similar].

“If you have a look on the corner at Russell, he had space on the left-hand side. It’s not that he was close to the wall. I think it’s more a racing incident for me.”

Hamilton added: “I was in a position where George obviously looked like he lost power, and then he just swooped around on the outside, and we just sort of had a coming together.

“I got damaged, and then in the race, I did the best I could with the damage that I had, and then also the penalty. I think it was a racing incident, so I don’t think there should be a penalty for that.”

F1 returns next weekend for the final Grand Prix before the month-long summer break in Hungary, a country where Hamilton is a record eight-time winner.