‘I f****d up big time’ – Lewis Hamilton apologises after crash costs him Singapore podium

Sir Lewis Hamilton has apologised after a self-inflicted crash cost him a potential podium at Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

At the halfway point of the race, Hamilton went into the barriers while trying to chase down Carlos Sainz Jr. for third-place.

Remarkably, his Mercedes was relatively unscathed from the incident and he managed to keep going and finish ninth at a treacherous Marina Bay Circuit.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the race with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Sainz completing the podium, though Perez’s victory is under threat after the Mexican was summoned to the stewards for a safety car infringement.

Max Verstappen, who could have sealed his second Formula 1 title on Sunday, could only finish seventh after a late mistake while trying to pass Lando Norris dropped him down the order.

The race start in Singapore was delayed by over an hour after heavy rain fell on the street circuit in the build-up.

As for Hamilton, the seven-time world champion was audibly frustrated after his mistake, apologising on his team radio: ‘I’m so sorry about that guys. I f****d up big time man.’

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>What happened that caused Lewis Hamilton to go into the barriers ð pic.twitter.com/JmMEbVr0Ci

But his race got even worse in the final few laps when an attempt to overtake Sebastian Vettel went wrong and he lost another place to Verstappen.

‘I think we started off with a pretty decent weekend and were just really, really unfortunate at the end,’ Hamilton reflected post-race.

‘It was difficult to overtake and that lock-up into Turn 7 – when those things happen your heart sinks a little bit.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Verstappen goes through on Hamilton! ðï¸ pic.twitter.com/frfYH7Z6e3

‘Potentially we could