Lewis Hamilton has accepted Kimi Raikkonen’s apology for causing their opening-lap contact at the British Grand Prix, and has retracted comments made in the immediate aftermath.
Hamilton bogged down from pole position and was tipped into a spin by Raikkonen under braking for the right-hander at Village, and plummeted down the order as a result.
Hamilton recovered to finish runner-up to Sebastian Vettel while Raikkonen received a 10-second time penalty, which he served at his first pit stop en route to third position.
Raikkonen offered an apology post-race while Hamilton made an insinuating comment regarding Ferrari’s tactics, which both Vettel and Raikkonen brushed off.
Hamilton took to Instagram on Monday morning, posting: “Kimi said sorry and I accept it and we move on.
“It was a racing incident and nothing more. Sometimes we say dumb shit and we learn from it.”
Hamilton also explained why he did not participate in the parc ferme interviews, conducted by Martin Brundle, in which Raikkonen offered his apology.
“I lost nearly 3kg trying to get back to the top for you [fans] and for my team,” he posted.
“I barely had any energy at the end to stand let alone talk. If you can’t understand and appreciate that then I fully understand.
“However, was nothing to do with anger, literally just exhausted both physically and emotionally.”
Hamilton holds second position in the championship, eight points behind Vettel.
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