Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Albon enjoyed some déjà vu as they collided while fighting for a podium…again.
During the closing laps of the Austrian Grand Prix, Albon attempted to pass Hamilton on the outside, but the pair collided, forcing Albon to spin and drop to the back, whilst Hamilton was able to continue.
The stewards placed the blame on Hamilton’s shoulders and handed him a five-second time penalty, dropping him down to fourth, but the Mercedes driver believes it was a racing incident.
“I don’t really feel particularly any way right now,” said Hamilton immediately after the race. “The race is done and I just feel like moving forward.
“Of course it’s not been a great weekend for me and yesterday was entirely my fault, it was a bit odd today to all of a sudden get the penalty but that didn’t destabilise me, it just encouraged me to go out and drive as best I could.
“Obviously had great pace to catch up with Valtteri [Bottas] and then a really unfortunate situation with Alex. I cant believe we came together again.
“It really felt like a racing incident, but either way I’ll take whatever penalty they feel I deserve and move forward.”
Albon: “I could have won the race”
Albon disagrees and believes Hamilton denied him a potential race win as he was on fresher tyres and catching both Mercedes.
“I’ve got to be careful what I say. But yeah, it is what it is. I really felt like we could’ve won that race, of course I think Mercedes had the outright pace today but the guys did a great job with strategy.
“I feel like this one, I wouldn’t say it hurts more but I felt like Brazil was a bit more 50/50, I felt like I did the move already. I was kind of already focused on Bottas in front.
“It was so late, the contact. I think Brazil was 50/50. For me it [this incident] was more, I don’t know, I think there’s always a risk of overtaking on the outside but I gave as much space as I really could, I was on the edge. I thought if I give him as much space as I can give him, It was up to him if he wants to crash or not and yeah….”
Hamilton now has seven penalty points – drivers who reach 12 points face a race ban.
