Lewis Hamilton has admitted fault for a late collision with Red Bull's Alexander Albon, which cost the rookie driver what would have been his first podium finish.
Hamilton made a late stop during the second Safety Car and fell from second to fourth, but at the restart he quickly passed Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and set his sights on Albon with just one lap remaining.
Albon left the door open at the Bico de Pato corner (Turn 11) and Hamilton dived down the inside, but the pair collided as Albon closed the door on the Mercedes driver. Whilst Albon spun and ended up down in 15th, Hamilton lost just one place, with Gasly taking second place.
The incident remains under investigation with Hamilton's podium finish under threat, and after the race, the six-time champion admitted fault.
"I massively apologise to Albon," he told Sky Sports. "I went for a move, the gap was kind of there, but obviously it closed at the end and completely my fault."
Nonetheless Hamilton enjoyed the race, admitting Mercedes had no answer to Red Bull's superior pace.
"But still a great race Max did a fantastic job today and they just outclassed us in terms of overall performance and we couldn’t keep up with them on the straights.
"But I raced my heart out, I gave it everything, I put everything on the table and I took a lot of risks today. We threw everything and the sink at it. I don’t think there’s anything we could do."
