Lewis Hamilton was left to rue the damage that he believes costs him a second place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix and granted Max Verstappen a 32-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship.
Starting fourth on the grid, Hamilton made his way up to P2 during the opening stint, but was passed by both Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris after his first pit stop before pitting again due to damage sustained.
The 36-year-old made a strong start to the season, winning three of the first four races, but has seen Verstappen and Red Bull take control in recent weeks, with Hamilton bemoaning "a lot of points lost" after the race.
“I already said before the race that it would be very hard to beat Max of course," he said. "But obviously it’s frustrating to lose so much downforce in the rear of the car and not be able to hold on to second place. A lot of points lost today.
“I wasn’t going over the kerbs any more than anyone else, so I have no idea where it happened, but there’s a lot of damage.”
Asked what he would have been able to achieve without suffering damage, Hamilton said that he would have finished second with the win not in play.
“I would have been second," he added.
"I was in second when all of a sudden it broke. So it would have been an easy second generally, but obviously not able to to catch those guys ahead.
“We’re miles away from them, so we’ve got a lot of work to do. We need all hands on deck, which I know they already are. And they’ve brought a lot of upgrades clearly over these past few races, and we haven’t bought any. So we’ve got to bring some, find as much performance as possible, otherwise this will be the result in most of them.”
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