Lewis Hamilton threatened to retire his Mercedes car during the Qatar Grand Prix in a radio meltdown after being hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The seven-time world champion’s miserable end to the season took another turn for the worse in Doha. After picking up a five-second time penalty for a false start, he went on to pick up a puncture as a result of debris from Alex Albon‘s wing mirror.
This combination left Hamilton on the outside of the points looking in heading into a late safety car restart, and the Brit was then hit with another bombshell – a drive-through penalty.
For Hamilton, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. « Retire the car, » he fumed to race engineer Peter Bonnington. « Retire the car. »
The Mercedes engineer replied: « Negative, » before Hamilton hit back: « I’m switching off [the car] when I get in there, mate. I’m switching off. »
Bonnington recognised his driver’s frustrations but warned: « That’s fine if you want a five-second penalty next race. We only need to do one more lap but drive through. »
Hamilton’s final season as a Mercedes driver has been nothing short of miserable and with George Russell once again finishing ahead on track, the seven-time world champion is now braced for a P7 finish in the Drivers’ Championship.
Explaining his frustrations earlier in the weekend after a rough Friday in Qatar, Hamilton said: « I’m not trying to say anything. That’s how I felt on Friday. I wake up and give it another try the next day. I haven’t felt great in the car all year. The most inconsistent car I would say all year just in terms of all year up and down balance.
« Nothing we have done has fixed that. I know I have the ability still and I know I’m still fast and I’m fighting against factors that are out of my control. I’m looking forward to the end of next week because, yeah, and move forward. »
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