Hamilton coy over Russell incident in Sprint Shootout

Lewis Hamilton has refused to be drawn on an incident involving Mercedes Formula 1 teammate in Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Shootout.

As the duo were starting their final laps in the third segment, Russell, who was ahead on track, locked up and ran wide at Turn 1 - with Hamilton getting the better run down the hill towards Eau Rouge-Raidillon.

After cresting the hill, Russell did not move to let Hamilton by with his lap all but ruined following the lock-up, moving across and causing Hamilton to lift to avoid a collision.

In the end, Hamilton was seventh and Russell only 10th, the day after Hamilton was cleared for a potentially unsafe rejoining of the track on Russell.

Hamilton's refusal to be drawn

"Well, I mean, I was letting... it doesn't really matter," Hamilton replied when asked about the incident with Russell.

"It was a really fun session, and it was looking great in the end, and obviously had that lap that put me first after the first laps, and I knew I could go quicker.

"Honestly, I think I could have been first or second in that session on that last lap.

"Communication was pretty poor, it was difficult to understand at the last corner, there were like seven cars trundling around and we thought that we didn't have anymore time left, but it turned out we had plenty of time.

"Then with George, it is the way it is."