LOOK WHO’S WALKING..
Hamilton’s nightmare summer means it’s all uphill once again
FORMULA ONE
The world champion had to abandon his car at the side of the Hockenheim track during the first session after his Mercedes lost hydraulic pressure.
It means the Brit will start 14th, with Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel on pole for his home race and hot favourite to increase his lead in the standings.
It is a hat-trick of successive mishaps for Hamilton, after a strategy mistake and retirement in Austria, and a collision with Kimi Raikkonen on the first lap forced him to battle from the back of the field to second in the last race at Silverstone.
Hamilton said: “It definitely was a tough one, but these things happen.
“All you can do is try and gather your thoughts and live to fight another day, another opportunity to rise.
“I’ll give everything to see how high I can get up but it’s not going to be like Silverstone.
“I am sure I will be able to get through to some point, but to where I don’t know.
“I didn’t really understand exactly what had happened so in my mind I was thinking, ‘Get the car back to the track’, but they asked me to turn the car off.
“I jumped out and wanted to push it back but it was so far to go. I saw there was leaking oil and I knew that I had to stop and let the marshals put the car away somewhere.
“I have the will to not want to give up. I just want to keep pushing.”
Hamilton’s problem emerged after he had run wide at the high-speed turn one and bounced over the kerbs.
Asked if the hydraulic failure was caused by his airborne moment he replied that it “failed before then”.
A Mercedes spokesman said Hamilton, who is eight points behind Vettel in the title battle at the halfway point in the season, lost hydraulic pressure.
“Gears won’t change,” Hamilton had reported over the team radio.
“Guys, I need to make it back,” he added.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop,” Mercedes responded with some urgency.
Hamilton’s Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas will start second, with Ferrari’s Raikkonen third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.