I paid for mistake, says Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton admits errors at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix cost him vital points in the title race.

Hamilton ran wide as he attacked the first corner, falling back to sixth, and then spun on the second lap when he was hit by main rival Felipe Massa.

"You can wish you did something differently but I made a mistake and I paid for it," said the Englishman, whose lead has been cut to six points.

"I lost one point today but I guess it's damage limitation."

The result also put a third driver into the title picture - BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica is 12 points behind Hamilton with a maximum of 20 available after finishing second to Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton had set himself up for a tilt at a second successive victory in Fuji by taking pole position but his ambitions were immediately undone by a dreadful start.

A hesitant getaway saw the McLaren driver caught by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and a risky attempt to claw back his position backfired at the first corner when he ran wide.

After finding himself down in sixth after the opening lap, Hamilton tried to pass Massa's Ferrari but the title rivals made contact as Massa clipped the McLaren's rear wheel and Hamilton was forced back to the pits after spinning

Both drivers were handed drive-through penalties - Hamilton for forcing Raikkonen wide in an attempt to regain his position on lap one and Massa for the incident on the following lap.

Massa fought his way back through to field to finish in eighth, to cut Hamilton's championship lead by a single point, as the Englishman finished in 12th.

Hamilton, who has been on the wrong end of the stewards' decisions this season, hinted he was disappointed to receive yet another penalty but insisted his world championship attempt remains on track.

"We (he and Massa) both got the same penalty but I didn't hit anybody - he did. That's just the name of the game, I guess.

"I don't think it makes any difference [to the title race]. We'll move on next week and make sure we win the last two races.

"We plan on winning; not at any cost, but we plan on winning.

"You've just got to keep your head up and keep going."

Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen said he had seen nothing worth penalising in the incident at the first corner.

"Obviously Kimi got a good start and I think my start was very good as well, Lewis's wasn't quite as good," Kovalainen said.

"Kimi initially jumped Lewis and then I think Lewis was trying to fight back.

"They both went a bit deep and I also went a bit deep. I don't know... I thought it was just a normal first corner."