With his Mercedes adventure coming to an end, Lewis Hamilton is nearing the end of a journey full of successes but also marked by a complicated finale. At the Qatar Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion experienced one of the most difficult weekends of his career, with penalties, mistakes and a heated radio exchange with his race engineer, Peter “Bono” Bonnington. Frustrated by a race compromised from the first laps, Hamilton asked the team to withdraw the car: Bono's response, dry and decisive, put an end to the discussion, highlighting the tension of a relationship that is coming to an end. A dynamic that also reflects the weight of a season finale in which Hamilton is struggling to find motivation and results.
The radio team that scored Qatar
The moment of greatest tension came when Hamilton, after having accumulated two penalties – one for a false start and the other for speeding in the pit lane – radioed the team that he wanted to withdraw the car. Bond, However, He did not agree.
Hamilton, exasperated, reiterated to Bono his intention to park the car once he reached the pits, but the track engineer closed the conversation with an emblematic phrase: “If you want a 5 second penalty for the next race, then fine.” Alluding to the fact that, if Hamilton had not cleared the penalty in this race he would have had to do so in Abu Dhabi.
A weekend to forget for Hamilton
The Qatar Grand Prix was a nightmare for Hamilton right from qualifying, where he found himself clearly distant from his teammate George Russell. “I’m slow, it’s always the same in every qualifying,” said the Briton, highlighting his discomfort.
In the race, the situation worsened: first the false start, then the serious error in the pit lane, where he exceeded the speed limit by 12 km/h. These episodes made any recovery impossible, leading him to finish in 12th position, far from the points and with a significant gap from the winner, Max Verstappen.
At the end of the race, Hamilton admitted his mistakes and apologized to the team:
"It was a terrible day, and I take responsibility for what happened.. Sorry for the mistakes.”
A farewell full of tension
This episode is just the latest sign of the difficulties that characterize the end of Hamilton's long experience in Mercedes. After years of success, the Briton now finds himself in a moment in which the car and the driver no longer seem in harmony.
Despite the difficulties, Hamilton stressed that these latest results do not affect what he has built with Mercedes:
"These results do not change what we have done together. It’s been an incredible journey, and in Abu Dhabi I’ll give it my all to finish on a high.”
Source statements: Motorsport
