Lewis Hamilton urged his Mercedes team to retire his car as he endured a difficult Qatar Grand Prix. Hamilton started the race from sixth place - but a poor start from the seven-time world champion saw him slip back to ninth as he jumped the start lights and was issued a five-second time penalty. He failed to make progress from the position and suffered a puncture after the halfway mark when he ran over debris on the start-finish straight. Under a safety car that followed shortly after, Hamilton sped in the pit lane and was handed a drive-through penalty. As he came in to carry out the punishment, Hamilton voiced his desire to retire from the race early in conversation with his race engineer Peter Bonnington. Bonnington : “We'll serve the penalty in this lap.” Hamilton : “Park the car mate. Retire the car.” Bonnington : “Negative.” Hamilton : “I'm switching off when I get there mate.” Bonnington : “If you want a 5-second penalty in the next race then it's fine. We only have to do one more lap but we will drive through the pit lane.” The race was Hamilton's second to last with the Mercedes team ahead of his switch to Ferrari next year. The 39-year-old will contest his final race for the Brackley-based squad this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
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