[dim635csi]

Hamilton thought Rosberg had stopped

It was at this stage that on a giant TV screen Hamilton caught a brief glimpse of the Mercedes crew standing in the pitlane, the guys having dashed out 'just in case', as is the usual routine.

He knew he wasn't making a pitstop, so his immediate conclusion was that Rosberg had, and that quite possibly Sebastian Vettel and other top runners had too.

His first thought was that when the cars were released after the safety car he could find himself stranded on old soft tyres – with low temperatures and pressures – with Rosberg heading a gaggle of rivals on supersofts. At this stage there were still some 15 laps to run, and thus quite a long time for him to hold out.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/an...-so-very-wrong