The seven-time world champion blew his chances of takinꦍg pole position at Sochi when he slid into the wall as he entered the pit lane to switch from intermediate tyres onto slicks with the track drying oℱut in the final five minutes of Q3.

Hamilton was delayed in the pits༺ as his mechanics had to replace his damaged front wing and service Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas first before sending both drivers back out.

Having lost temperature in his tyres, Hamilton struggled for grip and spun off for his second hit with the barriers🥀 on his one and only flying lap on softs, leaving him only𝓀 fourth on the grid.

“It’s re𝔍ally nothing to do with pressure, honestly,” Hamilton said. “It really wasn't a pressure scenario. It's literally just mistakes do happen.

“I came into the pits, I knew that I didn’t have a hu🍌ge amount of time and I was attacking. I was just trying to get through the pit lane as fast as possible because I knew that I would need as much time as possible.

“In the previous times coming in the pit ꧃lane, you could tak🍸e it really quite slowly, I thought the track was drying and the grip was quite good, and came in and just took it a little bit quicker than normal and just lost the back end and slid into the wall.

“So, yes, of course, [it’s] embarrassing, [I’m] disappointed in myself that I'd🎀 had it, but shit happens. We all make mistakes, and of course it's not what you would expect a world champion to do.

“The problem when you have the success that ꩲI have, anything but perfection feels like a long way off. But I'm only human.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also dismissed the suggestion that Hamilton’s error was borne out of pressure to capitalise on his main cha🌳mpionship rival Max Verstappen starting from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.

Verstappen heads into Sunday’s Russian GP - a race Mercedes has won at every year since 20♉14 - holding a five-point advantage over Hamilton in the champion🐈ship.

ღ"I think it wasn't the pressure today, because it was clear that🔯 Max was starting from the back," Wolff said.

"Why that happened, I can't say. I don't think it's the pressure o𓆏f the championship. And he wasn't the only one who that happened [to].”

Hamilton, w♔ho conceded he was “incredibly disappointed in myself” in TV interviews directly after qualifying, revealed his father Anthony had called him to offer support.

"My dad called me afterwards, and we just talked about 🧜it, and you just move on,” he said. “Tomorrow, I get my𒁃 racing head back on and back focused, and hopefully bring you a good race.”