Lewis Hamilton apologises to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri after Italian Grand Prix collision

Lewis Hamilton has apologised to Oscar Piastri after admitting that he was “totally at fault” for the collusion during Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. The seven-time World Champion, 38, collided with the rookie McLaren driver, 22, with just ten laps to go before the chequered flag.

Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for the collision at the Variante della Roggia, as the pair went wheel to wheel for eighth place. The British driver was able to secure sixth after putting in a seven-second margin between himself and Williams’ driver Alex Albon to ensure the penalty had no impact on the final result.

However, as a result of the crash, Piastri suffered front-wing damage and was forced to enter the pit lane for repairs. The driver then dropped out of points, finishing 12th at the end of the race.

Piastri told his team: “He just turned across me under braking.” Hamilton has since received two penalty points on his driver’s licence, doubling his total to four.

The British driver has admitted he went over to Piastri to apologise for the collusion following the chequered flag. Hamilton said: “It was totally my fault. It actually wasn’t intentional. I went and apologised to him straight after.

“I got up alongside him and just misjudged the gap I had to the right and clipped him. It could happen at any time. I knew shortly afterwards it must have been my fault and I wanted to make sure he knew it wasn’t intentional. That’s what gentlemen do.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had no complaints with the stewards’ decision to give Hamilton a penalty, but praised the seven-time World Champion for taking accountability. Wolff said: “That was Lewis’ mistake. I think a five-second penalty for that is what the menu says. These things happen, you know. It’s hard racing and we’ve seen a few of these. It’s justifiable.

“Lewis is very sportsmanlike on these things. And he is the only one that I see out there admitting things that he did wrong.

“We just had a chat and he said ‘I didn’t see him on the right and that is on me.’ And I think that kind of sportsmanship is what you need to admire with him. Pretty much everyone else is complaining and moaning to try to avoid getting a penalty.”