Lewis Hamilton offered his apologies after finishing the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a lowly 13th place.
His tough afternoon contrasted sharply with that of team mate George Russell, who brought his Mercedes home fourth. Russell started the race 11th, three places ahead of his team mate.
“It’s been difficult, but I don’t really know what to say,” Hamilton commented in response to a questioned from RaceFans after the race. “It’s definitely not easy and we all feel it as a team.
“At least George got some points today for the team, so my apologies to everyone I wasn’t able to do the same.”
Russell jumped up to sixth place at the start while Hamilton found himself in a queue of other cars which he couldn’t pass. “I didn’t really find it frustrating, I just wasn’t moving forwards” he said. “I don’t really know [why], I just wasn’t fast enough to overtake.”
“I was just a bit of a sitting duck today,” he added.
His first point-less finish of the season leaves him seventh in the championship, 58 points behind leader Charles Leclerc. However he said he’s been through worse times in his career.
“I’ve definitely had lower moments, so it’s not the lowest, for sure,” he said.
“I think the team is, as I said, everyone’s feeling it and everyone’s just head down trying their best,” he added. “There’s no one that’s giving up and everyone’s just trying to move it forward as fast as they can.”
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