Lewis Hamilton’s efforts to salvage a decent points haul from 15th on the grid were undone when he missed a vital opportunity to pit during a Virtual Safety Car window.
Mercedes team radio messages indicate Hamilton did not hear the initial instruction to come into the pits. The call was repeated, to which Hamilton replied “too late” after he had already passed the pit lane entrance.
Having missed his opportunity to come in, the entrance to the pit lane was subsequently closed. Hamilton therefore had to wait three more laps to make his mandatory stop, by which time the VSC period had ended, meaning he lost more places than was necessary. Having worked his way up to sixth behind his team mate when the VSC period began, he ultimately finished the race in 10th.
The VSC period was triggered when Daniel Ricciardo came to a stop on the approach to the pit lane entrance. Fernando Alonso’s Alpine had also developed a problem and he was touring back to the pits at a greatly reduced…