Finding greener grass at Alfa Romeo may not have been the real reason Valtteri Bottas left Mercedes at the end of last season after Sir Lewis Hamilton made a polarising comment at the British Grand Prix.
The first practice session of the weekend had been mostly rained off, and the teams did not want to unnecessarily burn through any sets of Inters in anticipation of rain during qualifying, so most of the drivers spent the majority of the session in their garages.
While we often believe that engineering and race strategy is on the agenda for discussions during the lengthy period of no track action, Hamilton was speaking to George Russell and co about a more pressing matter.
Bottas is known for being one of the biggest coffee lovers on the grid, so it might not be a huge surprise that he left given Hamilton’s comment about the hot beverage while the Mercedes team waited to get going again.
READ: Horner claims Mercedes let Ferrari ‘off the hook’ as he was surprised by Lewis Hamilton’s strategy
“Coffee is disgusting,” was the outrageous claim from the 37-year-old as his team-mates smiled, undoubtedly hiding the horror they were feeling inside.
A comment on YouTube said that the seven-time champion had “crossed a line” with his view on the caffeinated morning wake-up, and it may cause a serious re-think from Hamilton fans around the globe.
All jokes aside, Mercedes looked much better last weekend as Hamilton scored his third podium of the season in third, and he even looked on course for victory as he hunted down the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz before a Safety Car.
READ: Major Mercedes upgrade gives Lewis Hamilton a shot at fighting for 2022 championship
Sergio Perez, who had been sent down the order after contact with Leclerc at the start, passed the Briton late on, as Leclerc fell behind both of them when the Scuderia bizarrely chose not to pit him for fresh tyres under the Safety Car.
The Monegasque ended up fourth as Sainz took his maiden victory in the pinnacle of motorsport.
Russell was involved in the red flag crash at the start that led to Zhou Guanyu flipping over the barrier and into the fence, and he abandoned his chances of getting back into the race by jumping out of his car and running over to make sure the Alfa Romeo driver was okay.