Lewis Hamilton has apologised to teammate Charles Leclerc after failing to give back his position on the final lap.
On lap 43, Leclerc was told to let Hamilton through. The Briton had fresher tyres and was asked to chase Lando Norris, who was battling Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda for fifth.
Hamilton closed the gap to Norris but could not find a way past. On the last lap, he was ordered to return the place to Leclerc. He failed to do so.
“Obviously, I was quicker,” Hamilton said after the race. “Charles was gracious to let me by. At the end, I got the message very late. I was zoned in on the car in front. I still hoped maybe I could pass, but it was only a tiny chance.”
He explained that he lifted and braked on the straight but misjudged the timing. “I missed it by four-tenths. That was a mistake from me. I apologise to Charles. At the end of the day, it was eighth and ninth, so…”
Leclerc downplayed the incident. “There are rules we know we must follow, and today maybe those rules were not respected. But whether it is P8 and P9 or P9 and P8, I don’t really care,” he said.
He added that the situation only matters if Ferrari are fighting for stronger results. “If we are in better positions, I hope we will handle it differently. But today, I don’t mind.”
Despite the slip, Hamilton saw positives in his race. He moved up from 12th on the grid and said he felt happier in the car.
“It was not the result we wanted, but I went forwards. My pace was generally good. The cars ahead were very quick, so it was hard to close in. Qualifying is very important, and we missed out on that,” he said.
He pointed to Williams as an example of how strong qualifying can set up a race. “There are lots of positives to take. I’ll try to carry them into the next weekend.”
