Hamilton on disappointing Belgian Grand Prix: "I take full responsibility for fourth place"

A difficult outing in Belgium for Lewis Hamilton ended with a fifth-place finish after a five-second penalty and a scary incident in the pit lane.

The lap one incident which caused Hamilton's five-second penalty. Phot credits: F1

The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is known for providing entertainment with its exciting, fast-paced run through Eau Rouge and into the three-turn chicane at Les Combes, a section of the track which began Lewis Hamilton's woes of the race.

George Russell approached on the outside, while Hamilton ran on the inside, but a snap of oversteer caught the Ferrari driver off-guard; he wrestled with the steering wheel to keep his car off the gravel trap. But in doing so, clipped the Mercedes and brought a premature end to Russell's race.

Following the incident, his former teammate had no hard feelings towards the incident and instead blamed his Mercedes for the collision. Russell explained the lack of straight-line speed was the issue, but the stewards issued a five-second penalty to Hamilton.

Pit-lane chaos

During a Virtual Safety Car period, Ferrari called Hamilton in to serve his penalty and switch to a set of hard compound tyres. The green light signalled for Hamilton to leave the box, but when doing so his right-front tyre struck a mechanic and knocked him to the ground. The Briton stopped his car to ensure the mechanic was unhurt before he was helped to his feet.

The stewards noted the incident and fined Ferrari €30,000; €10,000 of which will be suspended for 12 months, on the condition they don't commit a similar infringement. Hamilton stated his "heart sank for a second" when he realised he had knocked a mechanic.

The seven-time world champion recalled an incident back in 2018, where Kimi Raikonnen struck a mechanic, which resulted in a broken leg.

"The green light went and so I went," said Hamilton to Sky Sports F1 following the conclusion of the race.

"You're looking over here [to the left at the lights] you're not looking over there so that's more probably on the team, ultimately.

"But when it happened, then I noticed him and I stopped and it just went through my mind in that moment was back when Kimi hit and broke a leg and my heart really sank for a second." Hamilton explained.

"I'm really grateful he's ok."

A tough weekend all round

A weekend to forget for Hamilton after an FP3 crash on Saturday and the incident the following day. Photo credits: F1

Also speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hamilton took the blame for not qualifying in a better position, which he believed hindered his race. The Briton suffered a big shunt during the final practice session, making it a race against the clock to ensure he could participate in the qualifying session.

While the team were able to rebuild the car, Hamilton highlighted the car's imbalance on the rear, which made his session uncomfortable; he qualified in sixth, behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.

"I don't count on myself [being] unlucky, I think about my mistake that I made yesterday, so I take full responsibility really for the fourth place that I ended up getting," Hamilton admitted.

"I damaged the car then when they rebuilt the car they missed something on the suspension so the balance was completely different so it meant I was probably a good couple of tenths - maybe three tenths - slower than I should have been in qualifying.

"Then I ended up further back, got in the incident. Five second penalty, so like a domino effect from a mistake from myself.

"But the team have been doing a great job with strategy, pit stops. We are continuing to improve the car. I think our pace today, without the damage, we could have been challenging for the win."

Despite the difficult weekend, Hamilton moved back up into second place in the standings, with a 45-point gap to Kimi Antonelli.

Next weekend, the Hungarian Grand Prix will take place before the three-week summer break commences.