Hamilton stands out in F1 with his honesty over errors, says Wolff

Hamilton made a rare error in the Italian Grand Prix when he accidentally interlocked wheels with Piastri at the second chicane in their fight for position and they made contact.

The incident damaged Piastri’s front wing, forcing him into the pits for a replacement, and earned Hamilton a five-second penalty for causing the collision.

Hamilton came on the team radio to explain that Piastri had been in his blind spot on the approach to the corner, after initially being unclear about how the clash came about.

But having seen what happened after the race, Hamilton quickly made the effort to apologise to Piastri when he realised it had been his mistake.

For Wolff, Hamilton’s maturity in being able to put his hand up at errors was a quality that stood out for him among the crop of current F1 drivers.

“He's very sportsmanlike with these things, and he is the only one that I see out there admitting and saying: 'I got this wrong',” said Wolff after the Italian GP.

“We just had a chat and [he said] he didn't see him on the right and: ‘It goes on me.’ I think that kind of sportsmanship is what you need to admire with him, as pretty much everyone is always complaining and moaning just to try to not gain a penalty.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

With Hamilton clearly having been at fault for what happened, Wolff said he had no qualms with the sanction that was handed down.

“It was a mistake,” he said. “I think a five-second penalty for that is what the menu says, these things happen.

“It's hard racing if you want to overtake here, and we've seen a few of these. So yeah, it's justified.”

Hamilton himself said there was no second thought given to saying sorry once he realised he had made a mistake.

“I apologised because it was obviously my fault,” he said. “It naturally wasn't intentional. I got up alongside and just misjudged the gap that I had to the right, and clipped him.

“It could happen any time, but I knew shortly afterwards it must have been my fault. So, I wanted to make sure he knew that it was not intentional. That's what gentlemen do, right?”

Piastri said after the race that he accepted Hamilton’s apology.

“I think [he] just moved a bit too far to the right,” explained the Australian. “But I think it's very easy to do in that corner, it's very narrow.

“He came and apologised, so I don't think there's much more to it than that.”