Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult afternoon in Qatar when he was handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The Mercedes driver had pitted during a Safety Car period after picking up a puncture, moments after Valtteri Bottas ran over an errant wing mirror that broke free from a car and rested near the racing line.
The mirror broke into more piece of debris, causing punctures for Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. It caused a hive of activity on the pit lane, with Hamilton pitting initially and being noted for speeding in the pit lane.
Lando Norris noted that he slammed on the brakes and nearly ran into the back of Hamilton, as he realised that he was going too fast entering the pit lane.
Hamilton was later handed a drive-through penalty for the infraction by the stewards, which he did not take to kindly on team radio speaking to his Mercedes team.
Lewis Hamilton pleads Mercedes to retire his car after Qatar Grand Prix penalty
Hamilton had initially informed his team to consider retiring the car, but engineer Peter Bonnington told him to stay out.
Unheard messages that were not broadcast on the TV world feed reveal that Hamilton was very close to stopping in the Mercedes pit box himself and getting out of the car with 19 laps left to run.
| Driver | Engineer |
| Bono: “OK, Lewis, we’ve got a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. It looks like you forgot to press the button on that first time behind the safety car.” |
|
| Hamilton: “Retire the car.” | |
| Bono: “NEGATIVE.” | |
| Hamilton: “No I’m switching off when I get in there mate.” | |
| Bono: “That’s fine, if you want a five-second penalty next race, that is fine. We only have to do one more lap, but we will drive through the pitlane. We’ll drive through the pitlane.” |
The seven-time World Champion informed the team he was going to pit and switch off, before Bonnington told him ‘negative’ and to keep driving.
He later informed Hamilton that he would receive a five-second time penalty for the next race in Abu Dhabi, for failing to properly serve his drive-through in Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton ‘fallen out of love’ with Mercedes
The partnership between Hamilton and Mercedes has been one of the most successful in modern F1, but it appears their current challenges are leading to a strain in their relationship.
With only one race left to run in Abu Dhabi and a string of disappointing results, Hamillton appears to have ‘fallen out of love’ with Mercedes this season.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
David Coulthard was worried about Hamilton’s latest statement on his qualifying results, with him facing a tough task at Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc is one of F1’s best qualifiers and Hamilton will have a tough opponent if he wants to beat him throughout a season.
