Lewis Hamilton endured another bitterly disappointing weekend as his time at Mercedes drew another week closer to coming to an end with a whimper. The 39-year-old wanted to bow out of Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix early after plummeting down the field from sixth on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton opted not to follow Peter Bonnington’s request to retire his W15 during the latter stages of the Qatar Grand Prix but later apologised to his Mercedes crew for picking up two unusual penalties at the Lusail International Circuit.

It’s not often Lewis Hamilton is tempted to give up in Formula 1. He nearly did just that Sunday, discussing with his Mercedes team over the radio whether it would be best to retire the car as his Qatar Grand Prix went from bad to worse.