Hamilton issues a 'massive apology' to Albon
- Published on 17 Nov 2019 22:53
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Lewis Hamilton has held up his hands and taken the blame for the clash with Alexander Albon towards the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On the penultimate lap of the race, the pair came together as they fought for second place, with Hamilton sending a move on Albon's inside at Turn 10.
However, as Albon turned into the corner, he made contact with Hamilton's front left tyre which sent him around and pushed him to the back of the field.
Brazilian GP: Verstappen wins in Brazil as Vettel and Leclerc collide
Hamilton crossed the line in third place after a drag race to the finish with Pierre Gasly, however he was soon demoted to fourth after receiving a five-second time penalty for the incident.
Speaking to Sky F1 after the race, Hamilton admitted that he was to blame for the impact: “I massively apologise to Albon," he said.
“I went for a move, the gap was kind of there, but obviously it closed at the end and completely my fault. But still a great race.
Max [Verstappen] did a fantastic job today and they just outclassed us in terms of overall performance and we couldn’t keep up with them on the straights.
“But I raced my heart out, I gave it everything, I put everything on the table and I took a lot of risks today. We threw everything and the sink at it. I don’t think there’s anything we could do.”
Albon labelled the incident 'a shame' as he felt Hamilton had the pace to overtake him at Turn 1 on the final lap of the race.
Albon was on course to take his first podium finish of the year, in what was his first race since being confirmed as a 2020 Red Bull driver.
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Replies (5)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I don't think a penalty was warranted here. Lewis apologized and held his hand up, and I think that's the main reason he got a penalty. He has nothing to lose and I assume that's the main reason he took responsability. Albon missed the apex, went in too and Hamilton put the car in the gap. It was not even overly aggressive. Ultimately, however, the real shame is that the battle didn't continue. It would have been so much better if the battle sorted itself out without contact.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
All in all I agreed with most steward decisions this race. Albon had the race line, so it was his corner to miss, so to speak, thus Hammy should've yielded. I feel it was kinda a race incident, though it was pretty borderline, so I'm not mad at this penalty. Regardless, Albon was the party who lost out.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Mainly because he ruined a podium but also because it was pretty clear that for some reason he went for a gap that wasn't really there. Bottom line, he had nothing to lose really and made a statement he's not afraid to be just as aggressive as the young drivers. He was also probably pissed off that he couldn't catch VER.
xoya
Posts: 583
In my book, Albon is to blame for this crash.
This was a very strange race with an even greater number of strange steward decisions
JuJuHound
Posts: 352
Before the race Lewis told about being more aggresive during the race but this maneuver was very risky. I understand Albon opened the gap quite too much but it was to risky knowing, couple corners later Lewis would overtake him without problems. But I think Lewis put everything on risk here, because he know this was the only chance to overtake Max also.
Too bad, Albon deserved this podium.