Lewis Hamilton radio call gives ‘alarming true picture’ of Mercedes star’s feelings

Lewis Hamilton’s radio call to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix gives an “alarming true picture” of how much he is not enjoying the season, according to Martin Brundle.

Hamilton suffered a puncture after a collision with Haas driver Kavin Magnussen and he told his team he wanted to bow out of the race. But Mercedes asked him to carry on and the British driver managed to finish the race in fifth.

“Lewis’ contact with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap surely cost him a chance of a spectacular result,” pundit Brundle wrote for Sky Sports. “He was 50 seconds behind the leader on lap two and 54 seconds at the end despite backing off by four seconds on the final tour.

“Lewis’s radio call-in after falling to the back of the field with a puncture, basically wanting to stop and ‘save the power unit mileage’, was alarming in that it gave us the true picture of how little he’s been enjoying this season. Presumably 65 laps later he was somewhat more satisfied after showing great pace.”

Hamilton has struggled this season with just one podium finish for the star coming in the first race of the season. He was targeting a record eighth world title but that seems out of reach as he is 64 points behind leader Max Verstappen.

But the British star is feeling more positive after his result last Sunday, saying: “We’ve made a lot of improvements with the car.

“The race pace is much, much better… the car is much nicer in the race. This is a great sign we’re going in the right direction. Without [my start], I would have been fighting the Red Bulls. That gives me great hope that at some stage we’ll be fighting for the win.”

Hamilton’s teammate George Russell was in teh mix to take the Spanish Grand Prix before Verstappen overtook him. Russell is the stronger Mercedes driver so far this season and Brundle added it was thrilling to watch his first battle with Verstappen.

“It was fascinating to witness his first proper wheel-to-wheel battle with Russell who was defending robustly but fairly, and very well,” he said. “I happened across the race stewards on Sunday evening and they were of the same opinion that George was pushing the boundaries but not breaking the rules.

“And his run back past Max between the very short turns one and two will be played out for a good while.”