A 2-millimeter error is to blame for Hamilton's poor start

Lewis Hamilton explained that he finished Saturday’s sprint race in Monza in fifth place, due to a small mistake at the start.

The Briton started the 18-lap long qualifying race from second place, behind his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and it looked like he might win decisive points in this year’s fight for the veto title. But at the start of the race he slipped for both Max Verstappn as well as Daniel Ricciard and Land Norris. Hamilton was unable to find a way past the McLarn racer even when the race was temporarily slowed by a safety car, so he followed him until the end of the race.

Verstappen finished the race in second place and scored two points, increasing his lead in the F1 World Championship scoring, and will start Sunday's race in first place as winner Bottas moves to the start of the starting lineup due to a penalty for changing the engine.

“McLarns are the fastest on the planes,” Hamilton explained. “I couldn’t get close enough to attack them on the plains, where they were as fast as I was, maybe even faster. I made a mistake at the start and squeezed the clutch lever 2mm too much, causing my wheels to spin empty. ”

Hamilton is five points behind Verstappn after the sprint race. He will try to close the gap in Sunday’s race, but doubts he will be able to hit Verstappn for the win if he fails to quickly beat McLarn’s racers. “Winning on Sunday is very unlikely, always impossible,” he said. “Of course we will do our best, but for now it seems that we will try to reduce the damage in the championship. It should be an easy race for Max, unless I manage to overtake both McLarns in the first part of the race. ”