Mercedes fear Lewis Hamilton's remarkable show of sportsmanship at the Hungarian Grand Prix could cost him this year's championship.
As Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag at the Hungaroring to claim his fourth victory of the season, Hamilton surrendered the final spot on the podium to his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas had earlier been ordered aside by Mercedes so Hamilton could take the challenge to the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
But Hamilton, who said he would give the place back to team-mate Bottas should he fail in his pursuit of the Ferrari duo, remained true to his word, and pulled aside on the final corner of the final lap.
He would have been 11 points behind Vettel had he remained in third. His glowing sporting gesture, however, means he will now head into the sport's summer shutdown 14 points adrift of his rival.
"It cost us three points and it could cost us the championship and we are perfectly conscious of that," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said. "Saying I wouldn't regret the decision would be very naive.
"The truth is that if you miss out on the title by three points everybody would say it is because of Budapest and I would be the first one to shoot myself in the knee.
"But standing by your values is what is going to make us win more championships. The purpose of us being here is doing the right things and winning in the right way. Sometimes doing it the right way and standing by your values is f****** tough and it was today, believe me. I feel crap."
After moving seven seconds clear of Bottas, and with an eye on the championship, Hamilton might have been forgiven for holding position.
Ferrari, as they historically do, have thrown their complete backing behind one driver. Vettel is their main man, but Hamilton, who opposes such preferential treatment, vowed to win this year's championship the right way.
"The mind is more cut-throat and every point counts, and it's do-or-die," Hamilton said. "The heart told me that the right thing to do was to let Valtteri past.
"I want to win the championship the right way, and I don't know whether that will come back to bite me on the backside or not. But I said at the beginning of the year I want to win it the right way, and I do think today was the right way to do things."
Source: PA
