'It was a racing incident' – Hamilton offers opinion on Russell clash in Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton believes his collision with George Russell on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix "was a racing incident", as the Ferrari driver was handed a penalty for the clash.

Hamilton started fifth for Sunday's 44-lap race at Spa-Francorchamps and overtook Russell along the Kemmel Straight as the Mercedes driver struggled with deploying power.

Russell moved to the outside of Hamilton into the braking zone of Les Combes before the pair made contact, with Russell being pitched into the gravel and out of the race.

While Russell placed no blame on Hamilton for the collision, the stewards handed the seven-time World Champion a five-second time penalty.

"Ultimately, sorry for George because that obviously ended his race, but I did think… I do agree that it was a racing incident," said Hamilton.

"It’s not like I went in aggressive and was misplaced or anything like that. I think it was just an unfortunate scenario, which happens in racing. Then I had damage as well, so I carried that through the race. It was a tough one."

Hamilton endured a difficult weekend in Belgium, suffering a crash at the very end of Free Practice 3 which put his mechanics in a race against time to repair his car for Qualifying.

During the race, the Briton made his pit stop under a Virtual Safety Car and served his five-second penalty, but hit a mechanic as he left the pit box with his front-right wheel.

The incident was investigated post-race, with Ferrari handed a fine that meant he kept his fourth place, leaving him 45 points behind race winner and Drivers' Championship leader, Kimi Antonelli.

"Hugely grateful for the points given the damage and given the crash yesterday," said Hamilton.

"Ultimately, not a good weekend from my side. I think my race pace was strong today and I think without the damage, and probably without yesterday, I think we could have been fighting for the win today.

"Even with the damage I was challenging Charles [Leclerc]. It is what is, we move on, and hope we can have a better weekend next weekend."