Lewis Hamilton wasn’t too dishearted after a disappointing Italian Grand Prix, which saw him racing through the pack from the back of the grid midway through the race. The six-time world champion was cruising out in front for the opening stages of the race with rivals Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen both struggling.
At one stage, he held more than a 10-second advantage to second place but that soon changed when Kevin Magnussen pulled his Haas to the side of the track, leading to a safety car.
Magnussen left his car just 100 metres ahead of the pit lane though, meaning the flag was soon waved to tell drivers that it was closed until the car was clear.
Hamilton clearly didn’t see the flags being flashed on the screens around Parrabolica as he came in for a fresh set of tyres.
Not long after the safety car was back in though, it was called back out again with Hamilton still under investigation.
Charles Leclerc’s huge crash led to the race being red flagged for stewards to clear all the debris.
But during the short stoppage, race stewards handed down a 10-second penalty to Hamilton, meaning he would drop to the back of the pack.
Hamilton ended up managing to fight through the pack to finish seventh with championship rival Verstappen retiring from the race.
The 35-year-old took full responsibility for not seeing the flag which led to his penalty, but he wasn’t too downbeat with the overall result.
“We didn’t do a great job with the pit stop and honestly I didn’t see those boards so I take responsibility for that,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s something that I’ll learn from but to get seventh and a fastest lap, that’s still some good points considering I didn’t think that was possible at 26 second behind.
“I’ll definitely take it and I’m grateful Max didn’t score any points so not a huge loss today.”
The struggles the usual frontrunners faced though gave a rare opportunity for those often battling in midfield to clinch a famous win.