Lewis Hamilton delivers mindset statement after rare crash

Lewis Hamilton has delivered a defiant statement that he is "fine mentally", following his latest setback this season at the Dutch Grand Prix. 

The seven-time world champion made a rare mistake which saw the Ferrari driver crash at Zandvoort, resulting in an early end to what had been an improved performance. 

Hamilton entered the Dutch GP following a series of staggering comments before the summer break in Hungary, where he described himself as "useless". 

Whilst Charles Leclerc qualified ahead of Hamilton, the gap between the duo was significantly smaller than usual. 

It left Hamilton feeling positive, particularly as he felt comfortable during the opening 22 laps. However, on lap 23, the 40-year-old went too high at the banked Turn 3 as light rain fell, causing his car to snap as he touched the paint at the top of the corner.

Hamilton tried to recover the error but made heavy contact with the wall, destroying the left-front of his Ferrari. It marked a second consecutive race without points.

To add to what was a disastrous day for Hamilton, he received a five-place grid penalty for Monza for a failing to slow under yellow flags on his reconnaissance laps. 

Speaking after the race but before visiting the stewards, the 105-time race winner addressed the rarity of the mistake but insisted it did not faze him.

"I'm fine," Hamilton insisted to select media, including RacingNews365. "I feel fine mentally. As I said, I felt lots of positives. I felt like I was making progress. 

"I was catching the car ahead. And yeah, it's tough to have a result like that for sure. I've been racing for so long. 

"I've had god knows how many races in my life, you can probably count on one hand that sort of incident."

For Hamilton, he enters his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver this weekend on the back of a crash and with a penalty, with him recognising the pressure on himself and the Maranello-based squad.

"I mean, there's obviously a huge amount of pressure on us as a team, and then more so for me now because I haven't had a good season," added Hamilton, looking ahead to Monza.

"In Monza, we'll be just trying to absorb all the energy from the fans."