The British ace, who finished the race in sixth place, hit the animal at very high speed during the 13th lap, damaging the floor of his Ferrari.
The incident caused a loss of 20 points of downforce, which translates to about half a second per lap.
At the end of the race, the joint-record (with Michael Schumacher) seven-time world champ said he was terribly sad about what happened.
“I got a good start, I held the position, I was managing the tyres. I was feeling optimistic,” he said.
“Then... I didn’t realise what happened, but they told me I hit a groundhog.
“It’s shocking. I love animals and I’m very sad about what happened. It’s horrible. It’s never happened to me before.
“It’s never nice to see these things, I just hope he didn’t suffer from it,” added Hamilton, who is a vegan and a well-known animal lover, seemingly more concerned about the loveable animal’s death than his own performance.
ANSA
