June 13, 2011 / 09:17 IST
Lewis Hamilton's bid for a Canadian Grand Prix hat-trick ended after just eight laps on Sunday when he collided with McLaren team mate Jenson Button in wet conditions.
Hamilton, twice a winner in Montreal in three visits, was attempting to overtake Button along the pit straight when they touched and he was squeezed into the wall damaging the left side of his car.
"What's he doing?" Button asked in amazement over the team radio while Hamilton parked his damaged car on the track, bringing out the safety car.
Stewards, who have seen Hamilton repeatedly already this season, said they would investigate the collision after the race.
"It was tricky conditions, I was doing the best I could to keep the car on track," Hamilton told BBC television after the race was later stopped by the teeming rain.
"I think I had pretty good pace and whilst I fell back behind Jenson, he made a mistake into the last corner so I got the run on him.
"I haven't seen the footage but it felt like I was halfway up the outside of him and he kept moving across, whether or not he saw me, and I was in the wall," added the 2008 world champion.
"It was only the tyre that was busted so ... I was going to drive it back to the garage and the team told me to retire. I thought the suspension was gone, that was what they said, but it turns out it wasn't."
NO BLAME
"I could have really done with the points," the 26-year-old, who started the day second overall in the championship, added with a grimace.
McLaren assured Button that his car appeared to be undamaged.
The safety car had already been deployed at the start, with rain and spray making the twisting and challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve all the more treacherous.
Hamilton had also tangled with Red Bull's Mark Webber, with the Australian spinning and losing several places in the incident.
"That's four people now in two races," said Hamilton, who collided with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams' Pastor Maldonado in the previous race in Monaco where he picked up two drive-through penalties, one after the race.
"He (Webber) braked quite early so I went down the inside and then I was on the kerb and we just touched."
McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale refused to blame either of his drivers for their collision, although he said they would look more closely at it after the race.
"I think there is such a thing as an accident, it doesn't always have to be somebody at fault," he said. "We're not the first team to have drivers come together, I don't suppose we will be the last team either.
"Not good for us today or for either driver but we've looked at it and just think it was a racing incident. Lewis clearly had pace ... Jenson was holding his line and they came into contact."
