Lewis Hamilton has taken the blame for the opening-lap shunt between himself and Fernando Alonso in the Belgian Grand Prix. The crash happened after a poor start from Sergio Perez enabled Hamilton and Alonso to fight over second as they went down the Kemmel straight. They were side-by-side as they reached Les Combes, with Hamilton taking a tight line into the corner, which caused the collision with Alonso, who was on the apex. The contact pitched the Mercedes into the air briefly before Hamilton landed and had to slow down with terminal damage to his car. While the stewards took no further action when they investigated the collision, Hamilton accepts that he caused the contact after watching the TV footage back. "Looking back at the footage, he was in my blind spot and I didn't give him enough space, so it was my fault today," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 .
Alonso: This guy only knows how to drive and start in first
Following the contact Alonso was irate with Hamilton on the team radio, calling him an "idiot" for closing the door on him suddenly on the outside of the corner. "Yeah, what an idiot! Closing the door from the outside. I mean, we had a mega start but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first," Alonso said over team radio. When asked for his thoughts on the Spaniard's fiery comments, Hamilton brushed it off and described what it was like from his perspective. "It doesn't really matter what he said. Like I said, it was my fault," added Hamilton. "I couldn't see him, actually; he was like right in my blind spot." The crash meant that Hamilton no longer keeps his record of being the only driver on the grid not to suffer a retirement this year.
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