He made contact with Oscar Piastri when attempting an overtake and continued driving before noting the puncture, which set him all the way back to P19 after pitting for new tyres on a slow stop.
Afterwards, Hamilton vented his frustration despite bouncing back to seal a seventh-placed finish after calling for the Grand Prix to be stopped. “A really challenging race,” he said. “I started on the hard tyre which was tricky at the beginning. I got a big hit from someone behind, I think it was Carlos [Sainz], and tried to not hit the cars that had spun around. I fell back five or six places.
“Then after that just making my way back. I was feeling great, the tyres were feeling good, the pace was strong. I went up the inside of Piastri, I don’t really know exactly what happened, I obviously got the hit from behind. I think it was a racing incident.”