Lewis Hamilton posts inspirational message and aims to overcome Azerbaijan GP heartbreak

With Red Bull's Max Verstappen crashing out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton had an excellent opportunity to claim some vital points to take the lead in the F1 standings 2021. However, with the British driver failing to earn any points in the race, Verstappen and Red Bull maintained their lead in the F1 standings. Here is what happened to Lewis Hamilton and here is also a look at the inspirational message the Mercedes driver posted after the heartbreak.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021 highlights: What happened to Lewis Hamilton?

Until lap 47, Red Bull's Max Verstappen looked poised to win the race after he took the lead following a slow pit stop for Lewis Hamilton at the end of lap 11. However, a horror left rear tyre failure sent the Dutchman out of control and into the wall on the right-hand side of the start-finish straight. Consequently, the race was red-flagged as there was a lot of debris on the track that needed to be cleared.

Once racing resumed a standing start took place with Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who overtook Hamilton at the end of the first pit stop, leading the pack followed by Hamilton in second. The Mercedes driver got off to an excellent restart as he launched an overtaking move on Perez only to run down the escape road at the opening corner. Speaking after the race Hamilton revealed that he accidentally hit a wrong switch on his steering wheel which "basically switches the brakes off", leading him to lock up and go down the escape road. With the Mercedes driver rejoining the grid in 16th, Perez and Red Bull grabbed the win. With the win, Verstappen maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship while Red Bull extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship.

F1 standings 2021: Drivers' Championship standings after Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021

F1 standings 2021: Constructors' Championship standings after Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021

Lewis Hamilton Twitter: Reigning F1 Drivers' Champion posts inspirational message after Azerbaijan GP heartbreak

Reigning F1 Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton was quick to apologise for his uncharacteristic mistake which meant that neither he nor his Mercedes team took the lead in the F1 standings 2021. After the Brit took responsibility for the disappointment, he also posted an inspirational message for the team. The Lewis Hamilton Twitter post has been received well by fans, who have given it over 37k likes and 1,600 retweets in less than a day. British fans will hope that Hamilton and Mercedes can get back on top from the next race onwards. The next race on the F1 2021 calendar is the French Grand Prix (June 18-20).