Lewis yet to explain 'Portier' tantrum?

STUTTGART, Germany - Mercedes has yet to explain why Lewis Hamilton stopped on the track immediately after the 2015 Monaco Formula 1 GP on May 24.

After the strategy bungle that cost the Briton the race, Hamilton stopped his Mercedes momentarily at the Portier corner before resuming his slow return to the pits.

Some compared the Portier 'moment' to Ayrton Senna's legendary crash at the very same corner - just before the fabled tunnel entrance - in 1988.

CHANNELING SENNA

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, a beneficiary of Mercedes' bungled strategy, joked on the radio after seeing the stationary Hamilton: "I think he's going home straight away."

Famously, in 1988, Hamilton's hero Senna stormed back to his nearby apartment from Portier after throwing away an easy Monaco victory.

A Mercedes team source said there was no technical reason for Hamilton's stop and Germany's Auto Motor and Sport reported that whatever Hamilton discussed on the radio with his engineers during the moment had not been made public.

GATHERING HIS THOUGHTS?

However Peter Bonnington, Hamilton's race engineer, came on the radio after the chequered flag and told his charge: "I'm really sorry about that Lewis, mate."

In the days since Monaco the 30-year-old was photographed relaxing on a yacht with 19-year-old Kendall Jenner, famous for her place in the Kardashian clan.

After which Hamilton flew to Nevada to take part in a leg of the Gumball 3000 rally in a Koenigsegg Agera supercar where, according to the UK's Daily Mirror, he ran out of fuel in Death Valley and was stranded for four hours.

Maybe, of course, he just stopped for a while...