Hamilton offers Mercedes apology after expletive-riddled fury

Lewis Hamilton has apologised to his Mercedes team after an expletive-laden rant in the closing stages of the Dutch Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion was in the hunt for his first win of the season after a one-stop strategy put him in range of former title rival Max Verstappen.

But a virtual safety car followed by a full neutralisation flipped the strategic board and after Verstappen pitted for soft tyres, Russell followed suit to leave Hamilton - on used mediums - a sitting duck.

The Red Bull took the lead instantly at the restart, with Hamilton dropping from first to fourth in the last 12 laps.

"It has been such a rollercoaster ride this year," said Hamilton. "This was such a good race, the car was feeling better than it has felt all year long.

"[In qualifying], up until the last corner where the yellow flag was, I was up 0.7secs on everyone, so we had pace. The car was different to how it has been all year long.

"I had made it up to second, I had that hard tyre on and was catching them and thinking 'Wow! We might be fighting for a win here, potentially a one-two'.

"When the safety cars and all that came through, emotions were all over because I knew I had lost it. Even before the restart, I knew everyone was on the soft tyre behind me, I knew there was no way I was going to hold them behind me."

Mercedes 'finally working'

Hamilton shouted on team radio: "I can't believe you guys f***ing screwed me, man. I can't tell you how p***ed I am right now."

But after calming himself down post-race, Hamilton apologised for his rage.

"I don't apologise for my passion," he said. "It is just how I am made and I don't always get it right.

"I am sorry to my team for what I said because it was just in the heat of the moment.

"I want to look at the glass half-full. We have got so many positives to take from this weekend. We got fourth in the end but the car felt great.

"If the car feels like it did in the other races, we are going to be fighting for a win. The pit stops were great, these are the fastest stops the team have done all year.

"I was so geed up from that. The guys were on it. We have just got to keep looking forward."