Hamstrung QUALIFYING HELL LEAVES LEWIS PLAYING CATCH-UP
LEWIS HAMILTON’S dreams of retaking the lead in the F1 championship turned into a nightmare after a disastrous qualifying session.
Fresh from signing a huge new contract, the Englishman saw his quest for a fifth world crown take a hit when his steering, gear changing and braking system was affected by hydraulic failure.
The damage was done after his Mercedes had run wide and bumped over a kerb in the opening lap of the first qualifying session.
He parked the wounded motor under orders from his team chief Toto Wolff – and was forced to watch on as his main title rival Sebastian Vettel took pole in the final
top-10 shootout on his home Hockenheimring track.
And he did it in phenomenal style, with the fastest ever lap around the
2.84-mile track, clocking a stunning
1min 11.212secs.
But a Ferrari one-two was spoilt by Hammy’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who edged fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen into third spot with a lap time of 1min 11.416secs.
Bottas said: “I felt so sorry for Lewis and I gave it my best but unfortunately Seb’s car was a bit to too quick for us.”
Hamilton and his boss Wolff were at odds on the cause of the disastrous hydraulic failure.
“I don’t really understand what happened,” said Hamilton, who will start today down in 14th spot on the grid.
“I wanted to push the car back to the pits but it was too far to go.”
Wolff reckoned the damaged was caused by Hamilton running wide and over the kerb. He said: “That caused a hydraulic leak.”
Hammy, now facing a mammoth title rescue task, added: “I don’t think I can recover to win this race.
“This is one of the worst tracks for overtaking but even so, I will do what I can from 14th place as I never give up.”
He faces a 190.42-mile trek back to the top over the 67 laps of the circuit where he has twice been a winner, in contrast to Vettel’s lack of success on his home track, just 30 miles from his birthplace.
The Ferrari No.1, four times a world champion, said: “For that vital last lap I had just a little bit left in me.
“And I managed to squeeze everything possible out of the car. I was filled with adrenaline and still am ahead of the race.”
Hammy, eight points adrift of Vettel in the championship, was still full of fight last night as he fired himself up for his 219th GP.
The 65-time race winner said: “The competitive passion in me fires me up. Whatever the difficulties, I am always ready, willing and able to give it my best shot.
“I am looking onwards, whatever problems that poses and into the future and winning more races and world titles. I owe it to all my fans of this fantastic Mercedes team.”