Alexander Albon, Red Bull, Interlagos, 2019

Hamilton apologises to Albon for collision

2019 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton accepted responsibility for his late-race collision with Alexander Albon in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver tried to pass the Red Bull on the inside of turn 10 but the pair made contact which tipped Albon into a spin.

The stewards are investigating the incident. However speaking immediately after the race, Hamilton said he was responsible for the crash and apologised to Albon.

“He did a great job,” said Hamilton. “He was very fair with where he positioned the car.

“I massively apologise to Albon. I went for a move, the gap was kind of there, but obviously it closed right at the end. [It was] completely my fault.”

Hamilton doubted he had the speed to pass Albon but the Red Bull driver disagreed. “I think he would have overtaken me anyway into turn one because he obviously had fresh tyres and he was looking racy,” he said.

Albon said he saw Hamilton preparing to make a move but wasn’t sure if his rival would commit to it.

“I need to look at it back to be honest,” he said. “We came out of turn nine and I had some gap to Lewis and I thought we were OK where we are. I felt like I went in a little bit hot and I wanted just to cover him and make sure he doesn’t get any ideas.

“And of course you see it, you see the crossing, but once you dive [in] there’s a blind spot and you don’t know how far alongside he is. I thought OK, he was far back enough that I’ll give him some space but I didn’t expect it.”

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Keith Collantine
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25 comments on “Hamilton apologises to Albon for collision”

  1. But why was Lewis driving so slow right after hitting Albon?

    1. Surprise, perhaps, or asserting the car and track situation before accelerating again. Who knows.

    2. Thought he had a broken wing my guess. Don’t want to go blazing into juncao and have your wing fly off.

    3. I think he slowed to let Albon re-pass him, but then realized Albon had spun completely and wouldn’t be able to.

    4. I think it’s because he felt terrible and wanted to see if he could give the place back.

    5. I think it was simply because he needed more time do shift down and lost speed until doing that :)

  2. In the end, he should be penalised, but it was not a reckless or crazy move. He thought there was a gap, there was none, there was contact. Just disappointed for Albon, but sometimes things just go awry. I think Alex will bounce back just fine. Even if he has nothing to show for it, this performance is reason to have confidence in himself.

  3. Lewis taking full responsibility while Vettel once again refuses to take blame for yet another incident caused by him veering across on a straight. Says a lot really.

    1. Blaize Falconberger (@)
      17th November 2019, 20:06

      Standard form from both drivers. Kudos to Hamilton for being mature about it. Vettel will probably own up later on, but when hels fired up he’s always on the defensive.

    2. Precisely. Lewis isn’t perfect, but I think he has a basically realistic self-image. Vettel seems to think he’s incapable of being wrong, and as a result we’re treated to his antics and strops.

    3. @ninjenius this.

      And all the grimy little trolls on here trying to say Hamilton’s move was worse, the F1 community is so tapped honestly.

  4. Im fine with it gutted for Albon he would got a podium on merit, thing is he admits himself he got in hot both made a mistake, Albon took a wierd line and Hamilton locked up. Completely different but i feel without ricciardo incident then maybe today there would be no penalty if Ham did not apologise. You sort of have to do the same as Ricciardo once they gave the penalty earlier

  5. Good move by him to take full responsibility for his clumsy error of judgment.

  6. Amazing to see both drivers admit their mistakes. With Hamilton taking the brunt of the blame.

    1. Which make me think: if both created the situation, I think that was one of the most clear “race incident” scenario in the last few years. I get what Alex is doing, he knows he moved under braking, or at least very close to braking zone. Hamilton committed himself once Albon open the door, it was quite an inviting. I thought Hamilton would use mind games suggesting Alexander was overwhelmed by the rear gunner role. Well, in the end I think Lewis intended to be kind to a very nice guy, otherwise he would argue the gap was closed during braking.
      One thing that cannot ignore, both drivers are giving a great example and some racing fans should be looking up to them, because they are admiting their mistakes in the event chain that led to the crash; unfortunatelly there are still people trying to bash Lewis for no apparent reason, some of them defended Leclerc moves in Monza, others defended Max in Austria, but now they want to crucify Hamilton (as another reader noted in another Brazilian GP thread in this blog.

  7. Used to be a SEB fan and not HAM. But after today and the on-track events in the last years or so (2016-now), I have finally converted. HAM is just a level above SEB… The fact that he is willing to accept mistakes, learn from them, and keep levelling up is making him one of the GOATs. SEB meanwhile just doesn’t want to admit, accept when he is wrong and learn from them (like today, in addition to boatloads in 2016-2018) and is throwing points and consistency out of the window. While HAM and SEB were equal in my opinion before the start of the V6 era (HAM beaten by BUT in 2011, likewise SEB by RIC in 2014), because SEB just doesn’t see his chronic shortcomings he has not gotten better and level up since then unlike HAM.

    1. Well spotted, one has to see the problem in order to correct it, perhaps Seb has an overrated and overstimated self image of himself.

  8. Strange that Lewis even went for a gap that small. I guess he was a bit too pumped and got the assessment wrong. Awful for Alvin who did a really great job today. I wouldn’t be mad at Lewis but he does deserve a penalty. It happens (even to great drivers). But he should have been more patient. Turn one or 4 would have been enough for Lewis to get past, so big shame for losing the patience.

    1. Autocorrect got me there… Albon not Alvin

      1. There was like 2 laps left? Time wasn’t on his side he had to make quick work of Albion to have a stab at Verstappen, so it was semi -calculated but it didn’t pan out for him, he knew it was risky.

    2. As i read it, Albon could have driven a wider line and thereby allowed Lewis more room. Albon chose to close the door and continue on the racing line with Lewis inside him.

      They both admited to mistakes. The stewards very likely only saw Hamilton admitting to the mistake.

  9. Thought the move was reasonable to make and worth going for, but it was also one where you have to take the blame if it goes wrong. Fair outcome, just wish it could have been decided pre-podium.

  10. At least all the brilliant “Albon is outscoring Verstappen” analysts will stop now.

  11. “He did a great job,” said Hamilton. “He was very fair with where he positioned the car.

    Didn’t this part of the interview refer to Gasly, and how he raced Hamilton to the finish?

    1. Yes. LH said this with reference to Gasly.

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