London: McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has said that he felt like he had “let his team down” after dropping from first to sixth place in the space of 10 laps during Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s already slim championship title hopes were dented further after he spun his car in slippery conditions on lap 47, surrendering the race lead to teammate Jenson Button and picking up a drive-through penalty for dangerous driving.
The 26-year-old made six trips to the pit-lane after a botched decision to switch tyres when rain started falling.
“I feel like I let the team down a bit. I made a big mistake. My left front tyre was pretty worn so I went a bit wide at the chicane and spun, which is very, very rare,” the Sun quoted Hamilton, as saying.
The McLaren driver is currently 88 points behind reigning champion Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel has 234 points from 11 of 19 races, while his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber has 149, Hamilton 146, Alonso 145 and Button 134.
ANI
First Published: Monday, August 01, 2011, 15:31