Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton apologises to Mercedes after disappointing Emilia Romagna GP

Lewis Hamilton was lapped for only the third time in his career and the first since 2013 German Grand Prix. Photo / Getty

Lewis Hamilton apologised to his Mercedes team after arguably the worst weekend of his career. The seven-time world champion, who finished 13th in Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, said he was "sorry he was not able to do the same" as team-mate George Russell, who managed to wrestle an uncompetitive car into fourth place for 12 valuable points.

Hamilton, who now trails Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 58 points in the standings, and on Saturday conceded defeat in this year's drivers' championship, suffered the ignominy of being lapped by race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull, the man with whom he battled so thrillingly for last year's drivers' title. It is only the third time Hamilton has ever been lapped on grounds of performance, after the 2009 British Grand Prix and the 2013 German Grand Prix.

"It's been difficult," Hamilton said of the weekend as a whole. "I don't really know what to say. It's definitely not easy and we all feel it as a team. At least George got some points today for the team, so my apologies to everyone I wasn't able to do the same.

"Everyone's feeling it and everyone's just head down trying their best. There's no one that's giving up and everyone's just trying to move it forward as fast as they can."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also apologised, to Hamilton, for giving him what he called an "undriveable" car. However, Russell's fourth place, having started 11th, made Hamilton's result more awkward. Russell is now the only driver on the grid to have finished in the top five of every race this season, and has beaten Hamilton at three of the first four races.

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff. Photo / AP

Hamilton, who began Sunday's race from 13th on the grid, did gain a couple of places after the first lap collision between McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. But he dropped to 15th after his one and only pit stop, and found it virtually impossible to overtake, even after the race director activated DRS midway on a drying track.

On Saturday, Hamilton had hit out at those doubting his commitment to Mercedes, including former world champion Mika Hakkinen who said last week that the Briton was "sulking" and predicted that he might not see out his Mercedes contract, which runs until the end of next season.

Hamilton repeated on Sunday that he was still hungry and motivated to help the team bounce back. "I've definitely had lower moments, so it's not the lowest," he said. "But a weekend to forget, that's for sure. I am out of the championship, there's no question about that, but I will still keep working as hard as I can and try and somehow put it back together."

Wolff said it was his job to protect his driver, adding they had to "stick together through the bad times".

"In a way, I have to protect him," the Austrian said. "It is not his low, it is the low of the car performance. We know he is a seven-time world champion. He caught up last year when he was behind. The guy is the best driver in the world and he does not have a machine and the equipment underneath him to execute.

Wolff added: "In a way, it is irrelevant if you come eighth, 12th, or 15th, it doesn't matter. It is all bad. The real stars recovered. The great ones that come to my mind had certain moments where things didn't run properly and that is the case now with Lewis, and we have to sort this out and stick together through the bad times, and today was certainly very bad."

Wolff said that Russell had executed "an outstanding race" with a "perfect start" adding that the 24 year-old was currently "outperforming" the car. Hamilton, he said, had got "stuck at the back" in traffic with a car incapable of overtaking. Russell, meanwhile, predicted that Hamilton would bounce back, adding that his struggles at previous team Williams were maybe helping him.

Asked whether there were any positives he could take from Mercedes' start to the season, Wolff replied: "The very few highlights that I have at the moment is how they [Hamilton and Russell] have worked together with no friction, but on the contrary they are very productive and positive for the team and I couldn't be happier with the driver line-up.

"We have two of the three best drivers, and they deserve a car and a power unit that makes them fight at the front."