'I take full responsibility': Hamilton left rueing Saturday crash after P4 finish at Spa

[p]The seven-time world champion badly damaged his car when he crashed at the end of final free practice and, after a rapid rebuild, qualified sixth before an incident-hit race of collisions, penalties and near-misses.[/p][p]The Briton, however, rejected the idea that he has been unlucky.[/p][p][b]"No, not unlucky. But I do think about the mistake that I made yesterday.[/b][/p][p][b]"So, I take full responsibility for the fourth place I ended up getting because I damaged the car. And then, when they built the car, they missed something on the suspension. The balance was completely different, so I was a good couple of tenths, maybe three-tenths, slower than I should have been in qualifying.[/b][/p][p][b]"Then, in the race, I ended up further back with the incident and a five-second penalty, so it was just like a domino effect from a mistake from myself."[/b][/p][embed guid="a651bb4a-7db6-4e0a-b96a-61c7275ec5fd" url="https://x.com/ScuderiaFerrari/status/2078851324926403061?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Hamilton[/a] collided with his former teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] of Mercedes on the opening lap and was given a five-second penalty.[/p][p]When he served the penalty during his pit stop, he almost hit a mechanic as he left the pit.[/p][p]The stewards launched a post-race investigation for an unsafe release by Ferrari.[/p][p][b]"The green light went, so I went. That's more probably on the team ultimately than me. When it happened, I noticed him and then I stopped.[/b][/p][p][b]"My heart sank for a second, but I am so glad he is OK."[/b][/p][embed guid="924eff48-39ad-44d3-80c8-bee16553fc45" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2078835632231583781?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The mechanic was trying to make an adjustment to the wing setting on Hamilton’s car when the green light came on.[/p][p][b]"The team have been doing a great job with strategy and pit stops,"[/b] added Hamilton.[/p][p][b]"We are continuing to improve the car and I think our pace today, without the damage, could have been enough to be challenging for the win.[/b][/p][p][b]"This weekend has been a bit unfortunate, like Silverstone again, but it is great to see the performance we are bringing to the track and how the car is improving.[/b][/p][p][b]"We have more stuff coming, in the pipeline, so it is encouraging. There’s a long way to go and I am going to step up in terms of focus levels for next week."[/b][/p][p]After finishing fourth behind Mercedes’ championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a], his Ferrari teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] and four-time champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] of Red Bull, Hamilton moved up to second in the drivers' title race, 45 points behind leader Antonelli.[/p]