“It’s not the worst thing in the world”: Lewis Hamilton unbothered by the 5-seconds penalty after contact with Sergio Perez

Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez came together in the Sprint race at Spa Francorchamps on Saturday, with the former receiving a five-second penalty for the incident.

Following the safety car restart, Hamilton and Perez were involved in an intense battle for fourth place. The Mercedes driver then made contact with the RB19 as they raced side by side. The brief moment of contact was enough to punch a hole in the side pods of the RB19 while also damaging the floor.

Lewis Hamilton subsequently received a five-second penalty for the collision, which put the Mexican driver out of the race. The Brit dropped three spots after taking the checkered flag finishing seventh, marginally ahead of his teammate George Russell.

The seven-time world champion claimed that it was a racing incident. He wasn't concerned with his result as he reckoned finishing seventh and scoring two points wasn't "the worst thing in the world."

"He was pretty slow, he went slow through 14 and I got a great exit. I was more than half a car alongside him and we just ended up coming together. I think it was a bit of a racing incident, naturally, it wasn’t intentional," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

"It was very tricky conditions out there so we’re all trying our best. But it doesn’t really make a huge difference. Fourth or seventh in the sprint race, you don’t get a lot of points. It’s not the worst thing in the world," he added.

Putting the sprint race behind him, Lewis Hamilton will now be looking forward to the Grand Prix on Sunday where he starts on the second row. Despite his old rival Max Verstappen starting behind him, Hamilton admitted he would inevitably sail past in the race.

He hopes to chase down Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez on the front row while hoping to keep the McLarens at bay to bag a podium finish.

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Red Bull boss Christian Horner addresses Lewis Hamilton-Sergio Perez clash

Sergio Perez ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the sprint race

Red Bull boss Christian Horner termed Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez's collision "unfortunate", as they had to retire the car. The Mexican driver gained four places as he undercut the Ferraris, Lando Norris, and Hamilton but the incident meant he couldn't score any points.

"Checo had an amazing stop and a great release that jumped both the Ferrari and Lewis, so that elevated him to fourth," Horner told Sky F1.

"Unfortunately, the contact – left-front to sidepod – has put a big hole in the sidepod and you lose so much downforce. You could see he really lost a huge amount of performance, so we had no choice but to retire the car. That was very unfortunate," he added.

Sergio Perez called out Lewis Hamilton for ruining his day, as he claimed the Mercedes driver was in a hurry to overtake him.