• Canadian Grand Prix

Button collision 'my fault entirely' - Hamilton

The McLaren drivers have made up since their collision © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Martin Whitmarsh

• Teams:
• McLaren

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he was to blame for his collision with McLaren team-mate Jenson Button at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton attempted to pass Button on the start/finish straight, but ended up touching the wall and puncturing his left rear tyre. The stewards said it was a racing incident after race, but Hamilton, who retired as a result, said he had already cleared the air with Button during the long red flag period for rain.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live's podcast: "When they had the long break Jenson came up to the room and just said: 'Sorry about that I didn't see you.' And I said: 'Yeah my fault entirely, I was in the wrong place really at the wrong time,' and that's it. We're good team mates, I think."

He also said he was not downhearted by the result after two disappointing races in a row.

"You know what, I think you make your own luck," Hamilton added. "I feel very blessed to be here still in F1, fit, healthy and alive and still racing. There are many, many drivers that wish they could be in our position.

"Of course you could always hope for things to be better, but good times do come to those who wait. So I'll just bide my time and hope that at some stage it will be mine."

Button defended his team-mate saying: "Lewis is in the headlines a lot, and a lot of it is because he is bloody good," said Button. He's a racer, a fighter. For me that is the reason why I wanted to be here, against and with a driver that is super talented, one of the best drivers Formula One has ever seen."

Martin Whitmarsh told the same podcast that Hamilton's and Button's ability to put the incident behind them was indicative of their good relationship.

"I think the great thing is that the team spirit and spirit between the two drivers is such that there was no recrimination. Both drivers recognised that it was one of those things and you'll be able to see that there is absolutely no issue.

"It's very easy when team-mates come together like that, of course it's disappointing for the team, but it's very easy for something like that to degenerate into something of a seam between the two drivers, but it hasn't done that and I think Lewis is delighted for the team and delighted for Jenson."

He also said that he would not want Hamilton to drive in any other way.

"I think Lewis is a passionate racing driver and he has to go for those instances," Whitmarsh added. "He's clearly had an unfortunate run whether you look at it statistically or objectively.

"I want Lewis to attack, I don't want him to have contact with cars, but at the same time if you hold back for fear of having contact he will not be the great racer he is, he will not do the job he has to do. He has had an unfortunate run, but I think he will continue to be a very tough racer and I am sure he will have many successes ahead in his career."

But ex-McLaren driver John Watson warned that Hamilton is currently frustrated by not being able to match championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

"Hamilton is very frustrated," he told Talksport. "I don't think he's in a good place in himself at the minute. He thought he could go to Canada and challenge Red Bull but he ended up fifth on the grid and, to me, he's being driven by frustration, not by his race brain.

"Hamilton needs to sit down and think about what he's doing and try to get his season back on track. He thinks he's the quickest guy in a Grand Prix car, and he probably is, and that he should win every race and every world championship. And it's that frustration that's driving him into making these judgements that are getting him into trouble."

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