Mercedes praise Hamilton after Qatar crash confession

Mercedes has insisted Lewis Hamilton's forwardness in taking blame for the Qatar Grand Prix crash shows his “strength of character”.

Hamilton and team-mate George Russell came together on the opening lap of the race, with the former being eliminated from the event.

Russell was able to continue and recovered to fourth place having dropped to the rear of the field after the clash.

Hamilton voiced over the team radio in the immediate aftermath that he was “taken out by my own team-mate”, while Russell placed the blame on Hamilton.

After reviewing the incident, the seven-time World Champion accepted that he was at fault for the crash.

“Lewis doing that and being able to have the strength of character to come out and speak as he has done shows that, champions aren't just made in the winning moments, but also in the most difficult ones,” said Mercedes' Motorsport Communications Director Bradley Lord, who was carrying out part of absent Team Principal Toto Wolff's role in Lusail.

“And it speaks volumes to his strength of character that he is able to do that.”

No harmony broken

Despite the collision between the two team-mates, Mercedes has asserted that it will not distract from its goal in this year's championship.

“There's no intention for them to come together on track [but] they have done,” Lord added.

“That's never our goal. And they're both very, very aware of the team's objective, and they want to work together to get us to second in the championship and secure that P2.

“The debrief is ongoing as I'm sitting here and I have absolutely no doubt it's the same conversation they’re having there as well.”