<
        >

          Lewis Hamilton apologises for wearing hat during Justin Wilson tribute

          Lewis Hamilton, second from left, kept his hat on during the minute's silence before the Italian Grand Prix. Mirko Stange/Sutton Image

          Lewis Hamilton has apologised for not removing his hat during the minute's silence for IndyCar's Justin Wilson ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, putting it down to a misunderstanding.

          Before the drivers' parade at Monza the F1 grid lined up on the truck to observe a tribute to former Minardi and Jaguar driver Wilson, who died after being struck by flying debris from another car during an IndyCar race last month. Of all 20 drivers, Hamilton was the only man not to remove his hat, leading to criticism of the world champion on social media before and during the race.

          While he waited for the stewards to uphold his Italian Grand Prix victory, Hamilton took to Twitter to defend himself, saying he thought the drivers were lining up for a photo rather than a minute's silence for Wilson. He also said he was under the impression the tribute would take place on the grid after the national anthem, which is when the minute's silence for Jules Bianchi had taken place before the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.

          Shortly after the pre-race silence, Hamilton had tweeted a tribute message to Wilson.