Lewis Hamilton retires from Austrian Grand Prix after Mercedes strategist James Vowles admits he ‘threw away’ win
Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles made stunning admission mid-race as Brit pitted too late after teammate Bottas' race ended on lap 14. Hamilton then stopped on the edge of the track on lap 65 and lost his championship lead to Sebastien Vettel
LEWIS HAMILTON suffered a nightmare in Austria after breaking down in a disastrous day for Mercedes.
The Brit was running in fourth place after a series of fractious radio calls when he suffered a loss of fuel pressure, which ended his race on lap 63.
Hamilton was initially nobbled by an incorrect call from Merc's strategist, who delivered a grovelling apology over the radio, when he failed to pit the Brit earlier for tyres.
But it proved pointless as Hamilton retired eight laps from the end while his teammate Valtteri Bottas also retired with a gearbox issue.
The double DNF is a hammer blow to Mercedes' bosses and sparks fresh questions about the reliability of their latest engine.
The team delayed its introduction until the French GP due to reliability concerns, which surely now must be addressed before next week's British GP.
Hamilton's failure to finish, plus Sebastian Vettel's third place means the German now leads the drivers' championship again by one point.
Bottas' DNF and Kimi Raikkonen's second place also means Ferrari now lead the constructors' championship by 10 points from Mercedes.
The thrilling race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was roared on by thousands of orange-clad fans.
He said: "It was amazing. Hard to manage the tyres but I managed to hang on but it is amazing to win at the Red Bull Ring and in front of all these Dutch fans.
"I needed to catch up in the points, so this was a very good day for us.
"It was an exciting start as Raikkonen split the two Mercedes but made a slight error which allowed Bottas to regain second place.
But the race was turned on its head when Bottas rolled to a stop on lap 14 and Merc failed to pit Hamilton, while their rivals all chose to do so.
At one point, Hamilton complained over the team's radio saying: "I don't get it guys. I'm not going to be able to pass these guys. Just throwing away a win."
And the 33-year-old, whose last DNF was at the 2016 Malaysian GP, was issued a grovelling apology from strategist James Vowles.
He said: "Lewis, it's James. I have thrown away the win today, but you have the potential opportunity to get back up.
"I'm sorry. We still trust and believe in you."
Hamilton also complained about 'running out of power' before his comments about "throwing away a win".
He was passed by Vettel on lap 39 and with his tyres deteriorating, was required to pit another time, saying: "I don't know what to say to you guys, these rears are not going to f****** last".
It proved inconsequential, as his race was ended prematurely after losing power and being told to stop the car.
Hamilton was simply a spectator as Verstappen held off the threat of the Ferrari duo to record his first win since Mexico last year.
Meanwhile, American team Haas recorded their best ever result as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen came fourth and fifth respectively.
