• Monaco Grand Prix

Hamilton shoulders blame for losing second

ESPN Staff
May 26, 2013 « Webber underwhelmed with third place | Grosjean hit with grid penalty for Ricciardo collision »
Lewis Hamilton dropped two positions at his pit stop having had a slow in lap © Sutton Images
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Lewis Hamilton said it was his fault he lost second place to the Red Bulls during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Having held his position behind team-mate Nico Rosberg at the start of the race, Hamilton lost out to both Red Bulls when pitting under the safety car. It transpired that Hamilton had backed off too much to allow Rosberg to pit first while Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were travelling more quickly and he said it was not the team's error.

"It wasn't the team's fault, it was my mistake today," Hamilton said. "It wasn't necessarily a mistake; I was told to have a six second gap and perhaps I had a little bit more than six seconds and I lost out massively there. So that's motor racing, but a big congratulations to Nico and the team - they did a great job today - and I just need to keep working harder … I don't put it down to luck, I just wasn't good enough this weekend."

Hamilton also said he didn't feel Mercedes had made much progress with its tyre issues but was being helped by the track characteristics.

"We haven't really made a step forward it's just one of those tracks that just doesn't really hurt the tyres all that often. And with good management you can look after them, so I wouldn't say we really made a particular step but we'll find out in the next race."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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