Lewis Hamilton was eager to move on after seeing a coming together with Alex Albon ruin his chances of celebrating on the podium at Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver and Albon collided on Lap 61 in Spielberg as the Red Bull ace tried to dive down the outside of him just after Turn Four.
Albon ended up in last place following the clash and went on to retire, while Hamilton carried on to finish second behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
However, the stewards – who had already dealt with Hamilton twice following incidents in qualifying on Saturday – slapped the reigning F1 champion with a five-second penalty which saw Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris leapfrog him.
Hamilton was determined to draw a line under the coming together, which was reminiscent of his collision with Albon at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
“I don’t really feel particularly any way right now,” Hamilton said. “The race is done and I just feel like moving forward. Of course, it’s not been a great weekend for me. And I think yesterday was entirely my fault.
“It was a bit odd, for sure today, in the preparation but it is what it is and that didn’t destabilise me. It just encouraged me to go out there and try and drive as best I could. I feel like I did. Obviously had great pace to catch up with Valtteri.
“And then a really unfortunate scenario with Alex. I can’t believe we’ve come together again. It really felt like a racing incident. But, either way, I’ll take whatever penalty they feel I deserve and move forward.”