Lewis Hamilton accepted that he was completely at fault for the collision which denied Oscar Piastri a top 10 finish at Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, running the alternative Hard/Medium tyre strategy, was chasing Piastri for eighth when they made contact under braking for the second chicane.
Hamilton continued after the incident but Piastri sustained front wing damage and had to pit for repairs.
Stewards handed Hamilton a five-second time penalty, though after overhauling Lando Norris and Alex Albon to take sixth he built up a sufficient buffer over the Williams driver to negate the time loss.
“Every point and position that we are getting through these races are incredibly hard-fought,” said Hamilton.
“We started on the Hard tyre today and it was nice to be offset but difficult at the beginning and not so easy to follow in the DRS train.
“I spent a lot of laps following the McLarens, so I knew that I had slightly more pace than them in the first stint, and hoped I could get them on the second one.
“There was a big gap to catch after the stop, and I was worried my tyres would go off when I caught them, but fortunately theirs did the same.
“I cleared [Fernando] Alonso immediately after the stop, which opened things up and let me close them down, but the incident with Piastri was just unfortunate.
“I misjudged the gap that I had and it was totally my fault, and I went and apologised to him straight after.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell finished in fifth position.
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