Hamilton rues start, quiet on Verstappen defending

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Lewis Hamilton says he made a mistake at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix and would not criticise Max Verstappen's defending after the race.

Having dropped from second to eighth place on the run to Turn 1, Hamilton had to produce a fighting drive to recover to the top three at Suzuka. While parts of the grid were still damp after morning rain, Hamilton says the start was his own error rather than anything to do with the conditions.

AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix

"I don’t think the damp patch had anything to do with it, I made a mistake," Hamilton said. "Working my way up from there was tricky but I did the best I could.

"I just got wheelspin ... Honestly I don’t really remember [feelings after start]. I can’t remember at the end, I was just far back and I was just looking to go forwards.”

With Hamilton closing in on Verstappen he tried to overtake at the chicane on the penultimate lap and had to avoid the Red Bull as he ran wide due to Verstappen's defence. Asked if he was happy with the move, Hamilton replied: “Well, it doesn't really matter now. It has happened and we move forwards.”

Despite dropping 33 points behind Nico Rosberg in the drivers' standings, Hamilton was keen to praise Mercedes as his team won its third consecutive constructors' championship at Suzuka.

“The team did a fantastic job and a big congratulations to everyone back at the factories and to the whole of Mercedes-Benz. To have had three years in a row of success, I’m very proud to be a part of it and happy that I could contribute to it today.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.