Wolff shares 'rare' Hamilton claim after dramatic clash with Alonso

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff shares "rare" claim from Lewis Hamilton that he was to blame for the crash with Fernando Alonso, which took him out on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix.

The pair were fighting for second in the first few corners of the race, when they were side-by-side down the Kemmel straight approaching Les Combes.

Alonso went to the inside of the corner and took a tight apex to give space to Hamilton, however the Mercedes driver claimed he was unsighted and made contact which threw his car briefly into the air.

This caused terminal damage on his car which forced him out of the race, ending his record of being the only driver not to retire so far this season.

"He just left him no room on the inside. Fernando was on the kerb already and there is not much more that he could have done," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"Sorry for the for the incident from the team's point of view, it rarely happens to Lewis."

Wolff: W13 won’t have highest place in Mercedes Benz Museum

From getting pole at the Hungaroring to struggling at Spa, Wolff says that it has been "very difficult" to cope with the swings in performance from the W13.

Wolff explained: "It's very difficult to cope with these swings [in performance]. We had a totally subpar performance yesterday [in qualifying].

"Being beaten by the Alpine's, Albon very strong, Valtteri would’ve been right there, Norris probably, then in the race at times we go three seconds a lap faster. So big question marks about what's going on.

"It’s not where we should be with [our] structure and knowledge to understand a racing car, but we don't with this one.

After Hamilton said over the weekend that he "won’t miss" this year’s car, Wolff quipped that the W13 won’t be fondly remembered by the team once the season is out.

"That car, I don't think it's going to have the highest place in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Maybe it’s going to go in the caves!"