• Indian Grand Prix

Hamilton apologises to McLaren

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa collided for the fifth time this season © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Indian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Lewis Hamilton apologised to his McLaren team for his performance in the Indian Grand Prix as he finished seventh following contact with Felipe Massa.

Hamilton seemed to be struggling to make inroads in to the Ferraris early in the race, but after his first pit stop was gaining on Massa. Hamilton tried to pass up the inside in to turn 5, but Massa turned in on him and the inevitable contact saw Hamilton break his front wing and Massa sliding off the track. After the race, Hamilton apologised to his team, saying it "deserved a better result".

"There's not really much to say," Hamilton said. "It was a disappointing day, very very sorry for my team. They worked hard all weekend as they always do and deserved a better result. Obviously congratulations to Jenson and to Sebastian, but I don't really know what else to say."

Massa was handed a drive-through penalty for the collision, but Hamilton refused to overly criticise him for the incident, more focusing on attempts to start rebuilding their relationship before the race.

"I don't know (what happened), we had the one minute silence before the start of the race and me and Felipe were standing next to each other and he hasn't spoken to me for a long long time, so I made an effort, put my arm around him and said good luck for the race. In the race I tried to overtake and I tried to come out of it because it didn't look like he was going to give me any space and we collided. But again I'm just really sorry for my team."

Hamilton also said that although he felt like the car was damaged, he was unsure if it was his own performance that left him uncompetitive, and that he would try to refocus when returning home from India.

"I had some vibrations in all the right-handers and it felt like the floor was scraping along the floor. And I just had very poor performance, and I was pushing as hard as I could just didn't have the pace of anyone really. But the car looks fine so maybe it's just me.

"I'll fly back and try to get my head back in the game. The Indians did a fantastic job this weekend, the track was great, and we've been treated so well here, we've been treated like kings so I'm really grateful for that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.