Lewis Hamilton admits to 'bad performance' at Hungarian GP
- Published
Lewis Hamilton accepted the blame for the errors that led to him finishing sixth in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
The world champion made a bad start, ran off the road on the first lap and later damaged his car in a collision with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.
Hamilton said: "I was all over the place. I really don't have any words to describe what happened. It was a really bad performance from me.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won ahead of Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat and Ricciardo.
Running fourth on the first lap after a bad start, Hamilton ran wide at the chicane, dropping to 10th place, fought back up to fourth place and then broke his front wing colliding with Ricciardo after a restart following a safety car period.
Vettel eventually sealed victory after taking the lead from Hamilton off the start line.
That led to a pit stop and a drop down to 12th place with 20 laps to go, from which he fought back to finish sixth.
Hamilton added: "I don't know if it was a lack of concentration or what.
"I pushed right to the end but there were so many obstacles. It's like there were two different directions and each time I chose the wrong one."
He admitted it was "bizarre" that in the circumstances he had extended his championship lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
The German finished eighth after a late-race collision, while fighting for second place with Ricciardo, caused a puncture and a stop for fresh tyres.
The incident was reviewed by race officials and Rosberg said they had decided to take no action.
"Do I deserve any points?" Hamilton said. "By the grace of God I got some points.
"I have to go away from this, take breather and come back in Spa [the next race on 23 August].
"To come away knowing this was one of the worst performances I've put in for a long, long time… I don't generally try to rely on luck. The team have worked incredibly hard. The race was a bit wobbly."
Rosberg, who had been on course to make up a hatful of points on Hamilton until his crash with Ricciardo, admitted it was a lost opportunity.
"A very disappointing day," he said. "It is the sort of day I need to make the most of it against Lewis and it didn't work out.
"I just snagged Daniel's front wing on the exit of the corner. I trust the FIA and they have decided to take no action."
"[I need to] just keep going. It was close. This is half time [in the season] but with tiny differences I could have had the lead at half-time.
"Could, should, would, whatever. I have a good chance to pass Lewis in the championship at some point soon."
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