‘It’s not what we do’ - Lewis Hamilton tells Mercedes to scrap protest over Max Verstappen driving

Hamilton attacked Verstappen at the final chicane on the penultimate lap of the race, attempting to making a move on the inside but seeing the Red Bull close the door. Hamilton then had to switch to the outside of the track and ran wide as a result, rejoining behind Verstappen and finishing the race in third place.

Mercedes lodged a protest against the result of the race as it alleged Verstappen "drove erratically and in a dangerous manner, forcing [Hamilton] to take evasive action at Turn 16".

However, with neither driver at the circuit to allow a hearing to take place, the matter was deferred to the United States Grand Prix, at which point Mercedes withdrew its protest.

It appears Hamilton did not support the protest himself despite being in a position to profit from any penalty for Verstappen, originally tweeting: "There is no protest from either myself or Mercedes. One idiot said we have but it's not true. Max drove well, end of. We move on."

Hamilton then deleted his tweet and clarified: "There is no protest from myself. Just heard the team had but I told them it is not what we do. We are champions, we move on. End of!"

The result of the Japanese Grand Prix was made official following the withdrawal of the protest, with Hamilton now 33 points behind race winner Nico Rosberg in the drivers' championship.