![\"Lewis-Hamilton-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/gallery\/f1-2014-rif-images\/f1-2014-drivers\/Lewis-Hamilton-3.jpg\")
But after the Briton limited the damage of his back-of-the-grid start at Hockenheim by racing through the field to the podium, boss Toto Wolff advised him to not be too glum.<\/p>\nEuphoric at Silverstone two weeks ago when he pulled the gap back to just 4 points, Lewis Hamilton’s mood dimmed once again on Sunday as he deficit blew back out to 14.<\/p>\n
But after the Briton limited the damage of his back-of-the-grid start at Hockenheim by racing through the field to the podium, boss Toto Wolff advised him to not be too glum.<\/p>\n
“I would be very surprised if it (the title battle) didn’t come down to Abu Dhabi and to the famous double points,” said the Mercedes chief.<\/p>\n
“Even if you are behind 30 points, you can turn it around in Abu Dhabi.\u00a0 But the driver who loses on double points will need some psychological treatment,” he smiled.<\/p>\n
Still, Hamilton thinks a result better than third might have been possible in Germany, after seeing Adrian Sutil’s stricken car.<\/p>\n
A safety car would have ended championship leader Nico Rosberg’s huge race lead.<\/p>\n
“I definitely got a bit worried,” the German driver admitted, “because I was sure there was going to be a safety car and that would have obviously made it a lot more difficult.”<\/p>\n
Rosberg wasn’t the only one surprised, particularly in a sport that, in the name of safety, is prepared to delay a race for an hour to fix a damaged barrier.<\/p>\n
“I was really concerned for the marshals — really concerned,” said Hamilton, referring to Sunday at Hockenheim.<\/p>\n
“It felt like the closest thing I have seen for a long, long time.”<\/p>\n
He said whizzing past marshals who ran across the racing line to recover Sutil’s Sauber reminded him of footage of the 1977 South African grand prix, when a marshal and Tom Pryce were killed in a gruesome collision.<\/p>\n
“That was the first thing I thought about,” said Hamilton.\u00a0 “I couldn’t believe it.\u00a0 How on earth a car can be sitting in the middle of the road for a couple of laps and not come out?\u00a0 I think you know why.”<\/p>\n
The Briton would not expand on what he meant by his final remark, but there was probably no conspiracy to protect Rosberg’s race lead for a sure home win.<\/p>\n
Mercedes’ Wolff said not putting the safety car out was surely the result of a new effort by F1’s authorities to reduce interference in the racing.<\/p>\n
“Under the old spirit of the FIA,” he told Auto Motor und Sport, “the safety car would have come out.\u00a0 But I think Charlie’s decision was deliberately taken not to turn a race on its head with 15 laps to go.”<\/p>\n
But the lack of a safety car was not the only argument Hamilton found himself in after the German grand prix.<\/p>\n
He also infuriated former McLaren teammate Jenson Button for their collision, for which Hamilton immediately apologised.<\/p>\n
“The problem with Lewis is he expected me to let him past,” said Button.\u00a0 “I don’t think I’m the only person he drove into today.<\/p>\n
“With his car being so much quicker you’d think he wouldn’t get into so many fights, but there you go.”<\/p>\n
Later, after watching the replay, Button admitted he might have “overreacted”.<\/p>\n
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