Lewis Hamilton orders Mercedes to axe protest into Max Verstappen’s ‘dangerous’ and ‘erratic’ driving
Brit world champion could have been bumped up to second in Japanese Grand Prix but tweeted: 'This is not what we do'
LEWIS HAMILTON ordered Mercedes to drop a protest into Max Verstappen's "dangerous" and "erratic" driving even though it could have bumped him up to second.
The world champion finished third in the Japanese Grand Prix to trail Nico Rosberg by 33 points.
But it could have been a different story had 19-year-old Belgian Verstappen not allegedly forced Hamilton to take "evasive action" as he attempted to overtake.
Hamilton tried to pass Verstappen on a chicane in the penultimate lap but the Red Bull driver moved to block off the route.
Mercedes then lodged a protest against Verstappen's driving.
A successful hearing could have seen the teenager handed an elapsed time penalty, moving Hamilton up to second.
But Hamilton, travelling on Niki Lauda's provate jet with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, said he had told his team to axe the appeal.
The first tweet said: "There is no protest from either myself or Mercedes. One idiot said we have but it's not true. Max drove well, end of. We move on."
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However, that message was quickly deleted and another sent in its place made no mention of the unknown "idiot".
The second tweet read: "There is no protest from myself. Just heard the team had but I told them it is not what we do. We are champions, we move on. End of!"
The FIA have confirmed Mercedes withdrew their protest - but the manufacturers insisted it was the team's decision to withdraw.