• Italian Grand Prix - Qualifying

'I drove like an idiot' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton: "It's the worst I've driven for a long, long time" © Sutton Images

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Lewis Hamilton confessed to driving "like an idiot" after slipping out of qualifying in Q2 at the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton failed to make the cut for Q3 after a scrappy Q2 session in which he damaged his floor on a kerb at the Ascari chicane, ran wide at the Parabolica and had his final lap ruined when he was blocked by Adrian Sutil. He will start 12th on the grid and in the immediate aftermath was critical of his own performance.

"I drove like an idiot," he said. "It's the worst I've driven for a long, long time. I'm just sorry for the team."

Given time to reflect on the session and the damage that was caused to the floor of the car, Hamilton said he still felt like he had not performed to his best.

"In the heat of the moment tensions are high but I still don't feel like I did a fantastic job today," he said. "I was on it on my last lap but I did have damage to the car and my engineer said I lost a lot of downforce. So that explains the lack of pace, particularly in the middle sector. But again, that's down to the mistake I made earlier in the session.

"Someone said it has been 67 races since I have not qualified in Q3, so I guess I can be easy on myself. But I want to achieve the best for the team and do as best as I possibly can and sometimes when you have those moments you feel like you have let people down. Tomorrow is when we get the points and I will do my best to get those."

Sutil was dropped three places on the grid for blocking Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver will not benefit as he qualified ahead of the Force India regardless.

"He's behind me so it doesn't make any difference," Hamilton said when asked for his thoughts on the penalty.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.