Lewis Hamilton was involved in a crash with his Mercedes teammate George Russell at the first corner of the Qatar Grand Prix on October 8, 2023, which ended his race. Hamilton attempted an ambitious move around the outside of turn one on the grippier soft tires, but misjudged it and ended up stranded in the gravel. Russell, who started second, had Max Verstappen on his inside, so had no space to get out of the way and avoid the collision. Hamilton took "full responsibility" for the crash and admitted that it was "100% my fault". The stewards investigated the collision but deemed it a first-lap incident that was not worthy of a penalty. Hamilton was reprimanded and fined for crossing the circuit after the incident. He escaped a penalty for causing the collision.