Lewis Hamilton admitted he was ‘gutted’ to see a golden chance to clinch the Formula One world championship slip through his fingers, but remains optimistic he can still bounce back in the title decider in Brazil.
Hamilton suffered his first retirement of an incredible debut season on lap 31 of the Chinese Grand Prix when his McLaren slid off the track at the entrance to the pits before becoming stranded in a gravel trap.
Despite severely degraded intermediate tyres playing a major role in the premature end to his afternoon, the 22-year-old still took full responsibility for the incident.
Alonso eventually finished second to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, setting up a final race showdown between the trio in Interlagos in two weeks' time.
Hamilton leads Alonso by four points with Raikkonen a further three behind.
‘Obviously I was gutted when I got out of the car as I hadn't made a mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits is not something I usually do,’ Hamilton said.
