Lewis Hamilton urged Mercedes to pull him from Sunday's German Grand Prix with just 11 laps remaining.
Despite clinching pole in Saturday's qualifying, the Formula One championship leader was sat in 13th by lap 53 of Sunday's race after a mistake-ridden afternoon at Hockenheim.
After running off the road for a second time, Hamilton was set to drop to last ahead of a sixth pit stop, when he made the call.
"Okay, Lewis box, box for new soft tyres," said the Briton's race engineer Pete Bonnington in a radio message which was not aired during Sunday's broadcast.
"Retire the car," Hamilton replied.
"Negative, Lewis, negative," said Bonnington. "There are always opportunities."
Hamilton, who had complained of a sore throat earlier in the weekend, crossed the line in 11th and was then promoted into the points after both Alfa Romeo drivers were hit with time penalties for a technical infringement.
That would earn Hamilton two points to extend his championship lead over Valtteri Bottas to 41 points following the Finn's late crash on a miserable afternoon for Mercedes at their home event.
Additional reporting by PA
