Hamilton takes responsibility for F1 pit lane blunder at Italian GP

Lewis Hamilton has taken full responsibility for the Formula 1 pit lane blunder which led to his 10-second stop-go penalty during the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was dominating proceedings at Monza until the Safety Car period, where he stopped for fresh rubber despite the pit lane being closed due to Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas being parked near to the entry of the pits.

When asked about the incident, Hamilton accepted full blame.

“We didn’t do a great job necessarily with the pit stop,” Hamilton added. “Honestly I didn’t see those boards, so I take responsibility for that so it’s something that we’ll learn from.”

Once the race restarted following Charles Leclerc’s heavy shunt at the Parabolica, Hamilton served his penalty and dropped to the back of the field.

The reigning world champion managed to recover to seventh place and maintains a 47-point gap at the top of the championship.

“To get seventh and to get the fastest lap and still get some good points, I definitely didn’t think that was possible from 26 seconds behind the last car so I’ll definitely take it,” he said. “And grateful obviously Max didn’t score any points. So not a huge loss today.”

Hamilton took the time to congratulate Pierre Gasly on his maiden race victory.

“That’s a huge result for him,” Hamilton added. “I’ve obviously seen what he’s been through from being dropped from the top team and now he’s beaten the top team. I think it’s just fantastic to see him recover and see him grow. I am genuinely really happy for him. ”