Hamilton accepts Raikkonen apology
Lewis Hamilton says he has accepted an apology from Kimi Raikkonen for their first-lap clash in last weekend’s British Grand Prix and wants to “move on”.
Hamilton was spun around by the Ferrari driver at Village, which dropped him to 18th and necessitated a charge through the order to finish second.
The collision sparked huge scrutiny over the Ferrari-v-mercedes 2018 fight as it came just two races after Raikkonen’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel wiped out the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in France.
Hamilton hinted at “interesting tactics” from Ferrari but took to Instagram on Monday to say: “Kimi said sorry and I accept it and we move on. It was a racing incident and nothing more. Sometimes we say dumb shit and we learn from it.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said after the race that he was “not comfortable at all with the incident because it’s tiresome being taken out in the first lap”. He had earlier told Sky Sports F1 that Mercedes technical director James Allison had asked “do you think it is deliberate or incompetence?” during the race.
That Allison remark was then put to Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene, who told Italian TV that he hoped it was a joke or he would be extremely displeased. But it is believed that Allison’s comment was made in jest, and has not caused a serious problem between the two teams.
Wolff even clarified his initial remark later on Sunday when speaking to Polish TV channel Eleven Sports. “I said you need to question whether it was incompetence or deliberate – a stupid comment of mine in the emotion,” he said. “But it was just a stupid manoeuvre that happened a second time in three races.”