Lewis Hamilton blamed an ongoing issue with his clutch for the slow start off the line which effectively handed the Austrian Grand Prix to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg got the jump on polesitter Hamilton on the run up to Turn 1, which turned out to be the key moment in the race because of Mercedes' superior race pace and the one stop strategy. Hamilton never got close enough to challenge Rosberg after that moment and he admits it was costly.
"Nico did a fantastic job today," Hamilton said. "At the end of the day he was quicker during the race, I had a really bad start which obviously lost me ground. After that I was pushing as hard as I could, I think in the second stint it was just about making the distance and that's what I was trying to do."
Hamilton explained what the issue was and said it's been a problem since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, when he changed his clutch.
"I let the clutch out and it just underperformed. It's something that I've been having since Barcelona and before that I was having better starts.
"I had a problem with the wait revs. I took my foot off the gas and it was still on, the throttle was still on. I dumped the clutch and had some wheelspin. It's not the best way to start the race but it's something we'll work on to improve on this side of the garage."
Hamilton was given a five-second time penalty in the race for crossing the white line on his exit from the pit lane, which neutered his challenge in the second stint. With such a big gap to Felipe Massa in third it had no bearing on the final result.
Asked what happened, the world champion replied: "I have no idea to be honest. I didn't think I went over anything."