F1: Rosberg kicking himself for errors

Related Stories

Nico Rosberg described the error that cost him Italian Grand Prix victory as "very bad," having handed the race to Mercedes teammate and Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton.

F1 championship leader Rosberg opened up an early 3.6-second lead while Hamilton was recovering from a start system issue that had dropped him from pole to fourth. But Rosberg twice missed his braking point at the Rettifilo chicane, with the second incident allowing Hamilton through to take the win.

"Lewis was just quick coming from behind so I needed to up my pace as a result and I just went into a mistake – it was very bad," Rosberg said. "And that lost me the lead in the end, so it's definitely very disappointing from that point of view.

"Monza is one of the most difficult tracks for braking because of the low downforce and the highest speed of the year. It isn't an excuse – it is what it is.

"It is one of the challenges here and unfortunately I got it wrong two times in the race."

Rosberg's second error happened shortly after he had held the lead in the race's sole pit stop sequence. Hamilton was closing on Rosberg either side of the stops, and he confirmed he had hoped he might unnerve his teammate into a mistake.

"I was pushing to overtake him– that meant it opens up doors for everything," said Hamilton.

The result allows Hamilton back to within 22 points of Rosberg in the championship.

"Of course I am disappointed but it's still second, still a lot of points, so it is not a complete disaster," said Rosberg. "I need to look at reality, there is worse than that, and I only lost seven points to Lewis."

He was also pleased that Mercedes was able to resume 1-2 finishes after the disastrous Spa collision, although Rosberg was still jeered on the podium by a section of the crowd.

"It is not nice, but what can I say?" said Rosberg of the fans' reaction. "I hope that with time they forgive and forget – that will be great. And I have apologized; I cannot do anything more than that.

"The team deserves to put all the recent stuff behind us and move forward. Spa is behind me, I put it behind me before the weekend, today's race just came down to a mistake."