Lewis Hamilton wanted F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix 'stopped' before finishing seventh

And though Hamilton did well to close the gap on some of his rivals, he was still nowhere near the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

The race in Vegas got off to a chaotic start, with ae virtual safety car deployed after several incidents at the first corner.

Hamilton made contact with another car and lost a chunk of time as a result.

Neither the Mercedes star or his team-mate, George Russell, opted to drive into the pits after a crash from Lando Norris.

However, both men were worried about being stuck behind the safety car on the slippery new surface in Nevada.

And Hamilton's radio message has come to light, having been missed by TV cameras at the time.

The Stevenage-born racer was heard saying: "There's no grip out here.

​"This pace is so slow it's dangerous for us. They need to either speed up or stop this."

Russell also voiced his concerns, too, with the 25-year-old heard saying: "Tyre temps are dropping like a stone here.

"The safety car really needs a bit of a move on."

Hamilton and Russell's fears failed to come to fruition, however, with both men able to finish the race.

Verstappen came top, with Leclerc in second and Sergio Perez in third.

The event in Vegas got off to a terrible start on Friday when P1 was abandoned after just nine minutes.

Fans were told to leave the stands before P2, with race organisers now facing potential lawsuits as a result.

Hamilton, however, was happy with the way the race went and slammed critics - including Verstappen - when speaking afterwards.

"[There were] lots of great overtaking opportunities," he told Sky Sports.

"And I think for all those who were so negative about the weekend, saying it was all about show blah blah blah, I think Vegas proved them wrong."

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff also spoke out and praised the Vegas GP, though did suggest a couple of changes he would make.

"Not his fault. Sad to say yet another time we had pace but just no result," the Austrian said.

"I wouldn't change a lot [about the Vegas GP].

"I would change qualifying maybe from midnight to 10pm, like the race start.

"So you can still have the roads open long at Vegas and have dinner for the fans. Other than that, it was a perfect event.

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"We have seen pace-ish today. I think we can hopefully recover and score solid podiums."

Hamilton will now set his sights on victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.

The Briton has won in the Middle Eastern country five times in the past, with his first victory coming all the way back in 2011.

Verstappen will be the man to beat, however, with the Red Bull driver securing victory in Abu Dhabi on the last three occasions.