Hakkinen: 'Hamilton looked like a sore loser'

Mika Hakkinen believes Lewis Hamilton should apologise to his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the wake of what happened in Monaco, and the Finn has added that 'one of the characteristics of a good winner is he also knows how to lose'.

Hamilton had to settle for second in Monte Carlo last weekend and he made clear he believes Rosberg deliberately went off in qualifying at the Principality in order to secure pole position, with Rosberg of course then going on to win the race. Rosberg was cleared of any wrongdoing by the stewards but Hamilton said after Sunday's race that the data was very telling to him.

Hakkinen, however, believes the Briton needs to be a more dignified or else he risks coming across as a bit of a sore loser.

"It's hard to tell if something is going to change significantly [between Lewis and Nico]," the 1998 and 1999 F1 World Champion said in his column for Hermes. "I don't know if Lewis would even consider apologising for his behaviour. It is a very individual thing.

"But in my opinion, one of the characteristics of a good winner is he also knows how to lose."

Britain's John Surtees, the only man to have won the World title on both two and four wheels, meanwhile was also unimpressed with how Hamilton acted over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

"I have no doubt about Lewis Hamilton's driving ability, but I didn't like what I saw and heard from Monaco," Surtees said in his column in Motor Sport magazine. "I can understand the frustration Lewis must have felt in not having that opportunity on the last lap of qualifying to get pole position. But I think his reaction to his team-mate and team was wrong."