Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton believes he was “too kind” in his battle with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, though was heartened by his recovery at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started from eighth place due to a gearbox-induced grid penalty but made progress early on, moving into fifth at the expense of Romain Grosjean, Sergio Pérez and the stricken Max Verstappen.
Mercedes used the undercut to enable Hamilton to jump Kimi Räikkönen and the Briton closed on Ricciardo in the battle for third, equipped with Ultrasofts as opposed to the Red Bull driver’s Supersofts.
Hamilton drew level with Ricciardo on the run to Turn 4 on the penultimate lap but held the outside line and was unable to make the move stick.
Hamilton thus came home fourth, and slipped to 20 points behind title leader Sebastian Vettel, but was encouraged by his drive, albeit less his approach against Ricciardo.
“It's been a difficult weekend, but I can take heart that I limited the damage to Sebastian in the points and that I went forward through the field,” he said.
“The car was great today, I could push the entire race on the tyres and I gave it absolutely everything out there.
“I really don't think there was much left in the car at the end of the race, but I was probably a bit too kind in my fight with Daniel – and left him too much space. I won't do that again.
“We've slipped further behind Sebastian again, but there's a long way to go. I'll keep battling and I'll never give up.”
Hamilton added that he regards next weekend’s British Grand Prix, an event he has won on four occasions, as a “clean slate.”
“Valtteri [Bottas] did a great job all weekend and thoroughly deserves the win,” Hamilton said, referring to Bottas’ triumph.
“He's just 15 points behind me now and he's very much in this title fight.
“I'm really looking forward to Silverstone – I've got a few days to put this weekend behind me.
“I can't wait to see the home crowd again and start with a clean slate. I hope I can use Silverstone as a springboard for the second half of my season.”
