Lewis Hamilton pointed the blame towards his car’s mirrors at Suzuka after yet another crash with Felipe Massa.<\/p>\n
Unlike in Singapore two weeks ago, the Briton was not penalised by the stewards for the latest run-in with his 2008 world championship rival.<\/p>\n
But this time, Hamilton – who was physically accosted by Massa after the recent night race – issued an apology.<\/p>\n
“There was no bad intention towards Felipe; I\u2019ve got the utmost respect for him, he’s a fantastic driver and he was extremely quick today,” he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this season, when contemplating the number of on-track incidents Hamilton has endured in 2011, David Coulthard revealed that he had spoken to the 26-year-old about visibility.<\/p>\n
“I said (to Hamilton) ‘You sit very low in car, do you get enough visibility?’\u00a0 He said ‘Although I sit low the visibility is fine’.<\/p>\n
“But I wonder if he’s missing out in close-quarter racing by sitting so low,” added Coulthard.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Nigel Mansell revealed this week that when he was a steward at Spa, he interviewed Hamilton about his clash with Pastor Maldonado at the bus-stop chicane.<\/p>\n
“I asked Lewis if he had seen Maldonado and he replied ‘no’,” the 1992 world champion told the Daily Mail.\u00a0 “For all the years I did the job, I had an idea where everyone was on the track around me.<\/p>\n
“No one in his right mind deliberately drives into another car, so I wonder if some of his problems have been caused by a lack of visibility?\u00a0 He needs to show better peripheral awareness of where he is,” added Mansell.<\/p>\n
After his latest crash with Massa, Hamilton finally admitted that he does have a visibility problem.<\/p>\n
“The only thing I have to say is that I can’t see anything out of my mirrors,” said the Briton.\u00a0 “They vibrate so much down the straight.\u00a0 I had no idea he (Massa) was there.<\/p>\n
“Maybe that’s something we’ve got to look into.”<\/p>\n
Brazilian Massa, however, was not interested in Hamilton’s explanation or even his apology.<\/p>\n
“For what he says, I don’t care, just (I care about) what he did.\u00a0 I care about what the federation says and what the FIA does (about it),” said the Ferrari driver.<\/p>\n
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