Lewis Hamilton pinpoints 'knock-on effect' that sparked Belgian GP penalty

Lewis Hamilton has explained that his crash in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday morning was the catalyst for his collision with George Russell on the opening lap of the race.

On his final flying lap in the dying moments of FP3 at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Ferrari driver Hamilton ran wide in emerging from the Fagnes chicane.

In attempting to control his car as it careered across the gravel, the seven-time F1 champion hit a barrier with the rear of his SF-26. The impact immediately ripped off the rear wheel, which was left hanging by its tethers, whilst the rear wing was badly damaged.

The Ferrari mechanics managed to get the seven-time F1 champion out in time for qualifying, albeit with the car compromised by the accident, leaving Hamilton lining up fifth on the grid.

At the start of the race, third-placed Russell encountered battery issues as he attempted to power up Eau Rouge, resulting in him being passed by Hamilton and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc along the Kemmel Straight.

Mercedes driver Russell attempted to fight back on the approach to the Les Combes chicane, only to be hit by Hamilton, sending him into the gravel and out of the race.

Hamilton feels his starting position was compromised by his practice crash, leading to the incident with Russell as he was further down the grid.

"Ultimately, just a difficult weekend," said Hamilton, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, after finishing fourth at the chequered flag.

"I take responsibility for my incident, which then had a knock-on effect with the setup not being right, and then [I was] out of place in qualifying. With the setup right, I think we could have been fighting for third, second.

"It meant starting further back, and then I was in a position with George. It looked like he lost power, and then he swooped around the outside, and we just had a small coming together.

"I got damage, and it was really unfortunate to see his race come to an end. You never want to see that."

The stewards handed Hamilton a five-second penalty for causing a collision, leading to damage on the SF-26 and a loss, according to the Briton, of "50 points of downforce".

Those two factors combined to Hamilton failing to mount a robust challenge for a podium finish. He feels the penalty, especially, was unjust.

"Then in the race, I did the best job I could with the damage that I had, and with the penalty, I think it was a racing incident," he said.

"Honestly, I didn't think that should be a penalty, but it is what it is."