LEWIS: RETIRE MY CAR Hamilton delivered a plea to his team to bring in Mercedes
In a radio message that was not aired during the incident-packed race, the world champion urged his team to pull him out with 11 laps remaining.
After crashing for a second time on an error-ridden afternoon at Hockenheim, Hamilton was about to drop to last place ahead of a staggering sixth pit stop when he
calwl. made the
However, Mercedes instructed Hamilton, who finished 11th before later being bumped up two places, to continue.
“OK Lewis, box for new soft tyres,” said race engineer Pete Bonnington on lap 53.
“Retire the car,” Hamilton replied.
“Negative, Lewis, negative,” said Bonnington. “There are always opportunities.”
Hamilton was promoted after
Alfa Romeo pair Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi received time penalties for a technical infringement.
That allowed the Briton to extend his championship lead over Valtteri Bottas to 41 points following the Finn’s late crash on a forgettable afternoon for Mercedes at their home event.
Hamilton led for almost half the race before he crashed in the wet conditions, paving the way for Max Verstappen to claim a second win of the season.
The Mercedes driver returns for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final round before the summer break.
Before then, Hamilton will spend a few days recovering from a virus.
Hamilton only Germany after being
FIA doctors.
“Lewis wasn’t healthy the whole weekend, but he did the most he could to get himself in an OK place for the race,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
“Many wouldn’t have considered being in the car but he did. You can’t be at your best when
you’ve been ill.” raced cleared in by