HUNGARORING, Hungary -- Lewis Hamilton says his respect for Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes ultimately swayed his decision to let his teammate back past on the final lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
During the second stint, with Mercedes suffering intermittent losses of data on the pit wall, Hamilton requested to be let past Bottas to attack the Ferraris as race leader Sebastian Vettel struggled with a car hampered by a steering issue. When the request finally got through to Mercedes on lap 46 Bottas moved over, with Hamilton telling Mercedes he would let his teammate back through if he was unable to pass the Kimi Raikkonen, who was losing time behind the other Ferrari.