Hamilton regrets first corner move

The championship leader received a drivethrough penalty after forcing Kimi Raikkonen wide at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, but was more significantly delayed when he was pushed into a spin by his title rival Felipe Massa.

Hamilton could only recover to 12th place, while Massa - who was also penalised for his move - took eighth and reduced the Briton's championship advantage to six points.

The McLaren driver conceded that he should have been more cautious into the first turn.

"You can always look back and wish you'd done something (differently) - I made a mistake and I paid for it," Hamilton told ITV. "That sort of thing happens, you've just got to keep your head up and keep going."

But while he admitted his move on Raikkonen was incorrect, Hamilton was not happy that he received an equal penalty to Massa.

"We both got the same penalty, but I didn't hit anyone and he did," he said. "I guess that's just the name of the game."

He was relieved that Massa failed to make significant inroads into his championship lead, and denied that he would now be more conservative at Shanghai and Interlagos.

"I don't think it makes any difference," said Hamilton. "I lost one point today, which is damage limitation, and we'll move on to next week.

"We'll still be just as competitive, and we'll make sure we win the last two races. Not at any cost, but we plan on winning."