“F***ing lost for words, honestly. Just seen the replays on the TV screen. I couldn’t do anything. Totally sandwiched,” Russell said in a later radio message.
“So sorry guys. I wasn’t even looking behind, I was just focused ahead and he just came from nowhere.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff – who was absent from the race but tuned in to team communications from his home – then came on the radio in an attempt to calm down a seething Russell, who unlike Hamilton was able to continue after an early pit stop.
“George, let’s race now, get the best out of it,” the Austrian said.
