Lewis Hamilton Picture Credit: Twitter
Seven-time Formula One world champion, Lewis Hamilton has apologized Mercedes for crashing at the Austrian Grand Prix qualifier. Hamilton, who crashed in Turn 7, will start 9th for Saturday's sprint race owing to Red Bulls' Sergio Perez's penalty that dropped him to 13th after qualifying at fourth.
Hamilton has apologized to his team and said, "I'm so sorry guys. I'm so sorry to damage the car. I am incredibly disappointed in myself ultimately and so sorry to the team who worked so hard to put this car together and I never like to bring it back damaged."
"We were fighting for top three I think and I don't have an answer for it. I lost the back end into Turn Seven and that was that," Lewis Hamilton added.
During the first half of the season, Mercedes drivers have struggled with a bouncing car. However, the drivers were encouraged with the cars performance in the qualifying race. Addressing the matter, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said, "We've given them a car that wasn't on par for 10 races in a row and now we're starting to come to terms and we are able to drive in front and then it can happen that you just lose the car. I'd rather have a fast car and then a qualifying like this than not having the pace to be in the top four."
Meanwhile, Red Bulls' Max Verstappen will lead Saturday's sprint race while Ferrari's pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start second and third, respectively.