Hamilton says sorry after crash in practice

LEWIS Hamilton has apologised to his Mercedes team after his bid to take charge of the Formula One championship hit a minor bump when he crashed out of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday.

The defending champion, who is just one point behind team-mate Nico Rosberg in the title race, made an uncharacteristic mistake at turn 11, losing control of his car and thudding into the safety barriers.

Hamilton managed to limp back to his Mercedes garage, but he sustained damage to the left-hand side of his car, and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the second practice session after completing only four laps.

Hamilton’s error paved the way for Rosberg, who has signed a new two-year contract to extend his Mercedes stay until the end of the 2018 season, to post the fastest time of the day, comfortably ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo with Sebastian Vettel back in a distant third for Ferrari.

Despite crashing out of the session with just 15 minutes on the clock, Hamilton’s lap was still good enough for fifth.

“Obviously, it was not the greatest session for me, and my apologies to the crew for all the hard work they have ahead to strip the car and get it back together,” Hamilton said.

“I hit the wall pretty hard and I definitely felt it. They have got those new white kerbs, I put my rear wheel just over the white line, touched that kerb, and I hit the wall perfectly sideways.

“I was able to pull away, and I didn’t break anything, and fortunately there was not a lot of damage. I could have probably gone out again, but if the wishbones failed we would have looked silly.”

The force of the impact, measured at 12G, triggered a safety alarm in Hamilton’s Mercedes cockpit and he was taken to the on-track medical centre as a precaution before swiftly being given the all-clear.

“In Formula One they are generally so over the top,” Hamilton added.

“You see these MotoGP riders and they ride with broken ankles and collar bones and we have one little busted finger and they don’t want you to race, but fortunately I have no problems and the medical team did a great job.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button finished a commendable eighth in both practice sessions, but British rookie Jolyon Palmer completed only a handful of laps after his day was plagued by a fuel pressure issue.