Hamilton embarrassed to take podium place from Rosberg

Rosberg, like Vettel, was told to hold station by team principal Ross Brawn on two separate occasions as the German was becoming frustrated by the fact he was quicker than Hamilton.

Brawn was adamant he simply wanted to bring the cars home in third and fourth, without any risk of losing the 27 points available.

Hamilton, however, made it clear he was embarrassed by the call as he said on the podium: “If I’m honest it’s Nico that should be standing here. He deserves to be where I am. Obviously the team thought, with the position in the championship, it was logical to stay in the positions we were in.

“I have to offer big congratulations to Nico because he drove a much smarter and much more controlled race than I did.”

There were many other incidents, notably a second-lap crash involving Fernando Alonso as a loose front wing broke off, forcing him into the gravel as Ferrari opted not to pit him at the end of lap one.

The Force India duo of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil both retired with front-left wheel-nut issues, while McLaren’s Jenson Button was robbed of fifth place when a dodgy pit stop dropped him a lap down.

Behind the leading quartet, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fifth, ahead of Lotus pair Romain Grosjean, the previous weekend’s Australian Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in his McLaren.

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone revealed he attempted to broker a move last year for Hamilton to join Red Bull.

Ecclestone held talks with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz with regard to the prospect of Hamilton joining forces with triple-world champion Sebastian Vettel and forming a super F1 team.

The deal, however, foundered as the Austrian opted to remain loyal to Mark Webber.

Although Webber confirmed discussing with Ferrari the prospect of a move last season, the Australian ultimately decided to sign another one-year contract with Red Bull, so closing the door for Hamilton.

“Dietrich is a very honest, straightforward guy and told Mark the door was open for him to stay. That was good of him,” said 82-year-old Ecclestone.

“Had Mark gone, Dietrich would have signed Lewis. Sebastian wouldn’t have cared if Lewis had signed for the team.”

Ecclestone also revealed Hamilton was initially dismissive of a switch to current team Mercedes.

The Briton eventually signed a three-year deal with the Brackley-based marque at the end of September, ending his 13-year association with McLaren.