Lewis Hamilton not expecting to leave Mercedes on a high after struggle in Qatar

Lewis Hamilton demanded to be withdrawn from Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix in the penultimate episode of his drawn-out divorce from Mercedes.

As Max Verstappen bounced back from being stripped of pole position to take victory – before launching a stinging attack on a “two-faced” George Russell – Hamilton was penalised twice by the stewards, claimed his car was “broken”, and then pleaded with Mercedes to retire him from the race.

He eventually took the chequered flag 12th of the 15 classified finishers.

Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari next season, said earlier this week that he “is not fast anymore”. And despite protesting 24 hours later that he “definitely still has it”, his appearance on Sunday could fuel him with further self-doubt.

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Hamilton’s chaotic evening began as soon as the lights went out. Desperate to get a good start, the seven-time world champion jumped the gun, briefly hesitated, and fell back from sixth to ninth.

“Sorry guys,” he said over the radio before the stewards penalised him with a five-second penalty.

For much of the opening period of the 57-lap fixture, Hamilton was lapping one second slower than Russell in the other Mercedes.

Running in eighth, Hamilton was back on the radio, asking if his machine was “broken”. After 24 laps, Hamilton was 25 seconds behind leader Verstappen.

Eight laps later, Hamilton’s torrid night took another twist as he picked up a puncture – possibly running over the debris of Alex Albon’s mirror which was left on the track for as many as eight laps and smashed to pieces by Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber – before he limped back to the pits for repairs.

“Trust me to have this luck, man,” said Hamilton. He emerged from his stop in 12th, and was back on the airwaves.

“Guys, the car is messed up,” he said. After a third safety car period, Hamilton was slow to get away, immediately losing two places at the re-start, falling behind Bottas and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. That put him last but one, and it would get even worse when he was slapped with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit-lane.

A desperate Hamilton wanted it to end. “Retire the car, mate,” he said. “Park the car, mate.” Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington rebuffed his driver’s plea. “Negative,” he replied.

Hamilton was then made aware he would be sanctioned by the stewards in his last drive for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi next weekend if he did not serve his penalty. Hamilton drove through the pit-lane with 10 laps to go and emerged in last place. He took the chequered flag in 12th spot.

“It could have been worse,” said Hamilton as he attempted to put a brave face on his display. “I finished. And it is over.

“It was my fault at the the start. The puncture was really unfortunate, and speeding in the pit-lane, that was me there, too.

“I don’t think we are going to end on a high. I think… it will end. What is important is that we turn up, we give it our best shot.

“We don’t anticipate a much better weekend than we have had in the past weekends, but I will try. I will go in with low hopes and if I come out with a better result then great, but it doesn’t make a big difference. These last few races don’t have an impact on everything that I do.

“I am grateful I am still standing. I am still OK. I have had great races and I have had bad races in my life… not too many bad ones.”

Hamilton finished 0.399 seconds behind Russell in qualifying for the sprint race here, and was even further back from his team-mate in qualifying for the main event, lapping 0.436secs slower.

Hamilton has been beaten by Russell in 23 of the 29 qualifying sessions so far. He is 24 points adrift of Russell, who finished fourth on Sunday, in the championship.

Hamilton’s fans have claimed foul play at Mercedes after the British driver stunned them by switching to Ferrari a month out from the new campaign.

But team principal Toto Wolff said: “I never read these comments. I just hear that this nonsense appears.

“We love our fans. They contribute to what we are, and the other ones that believe they have to create some crazy, made-up conspiracies, it doesn’t even both me. They are just idiots.

“They have no understanding, and have not put a foot in a racing car, maybe not even in a normal car. Nobody is reading what they write. They are writing it for themselves and the few other lunatics that want to engage with them.”