The 26-year-old Briton, whose impetuosity has become a frequent problem over the last two years, said he had made an error of judgment and not given his Japanese opponent sufficient space.
"After watching the replay, I realise it was 100 per cent my fault," tweeted Hamilton. "I didn't give Kobayashi enough room though I thought I was past. Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me."
Hamilton made his spectacular exit from a dramatic race, won by defending champion Sebastian Vettel, when he collided with Kobayashi on lap 13. In June, he retired from the Canadian Grand Prix after a collision with teammate Jenson Button who finished third behind Vettel and Mark Webber in the Belgian GP.
Whitmarsh defends Hamilton
Meanwhile, team principal Martin Whitmarsh defended Hamilton's crash record this season.
"I think he's an immensely competitive and passionate driver," said Whitmarsh. "People know they've got to commit quite heavily to get past him and he's always going to commit to go past. I think he makes Formula One a more exciting place. I don't want him to change."
Poor qualifying frustrates Button
Button, meanwhile, said that 'miscommunication' with his team resulted in his poor show at the qualifying, saying he chose to cool his tyres, not realising he did not have time to do another flying lap in the second phase of qualifying.
"A misunderstanding in qualifying cost us a lot of points," said Button. "If we can stop the little mistakes happening we can win races."
Schumacher 'happy' with result
On the 20th anniversary of his Formula One debut, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher proved yet again that he retains all the skills that once made him the 'king of Spa' and that helped him finish the race in fifth position after starting at the back of the grid.
"I'm happy about this result," he said. "It was a good battle with Nico Rosberg. This is a special weekend and luckily it finished extremely well for me."
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2011.
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@FishandCrane: He is frustrated at the moment, because the championship is getting away from him due to an uncompetitive car. Everyone makes mistakes!
My first F1 race to watch in full. ANd the announcer leads with, "Brussels SPa is the 'Lambeau Field' of F1- I was hooked." Then had a ten minute "discussion" with my host about this crash. Turns out I was right- I thot it was Hamilton who didn't see him in the blind spot- but can't imagine there is a blind spot in these space tech vehicles??? So then, perhaps this great driver did what? Loose concentration? Get sloppy? ANyone...what a stand up guy Hamilton is!
F1- you have fishandcrane group as new fans!