Hamilton may be forced to start race from pit lane

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In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton may be forced to start today’s German Grand Prix from the pitlane if Mercedes opt to change his brake discs.

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Hamilton set for pitlane race start (Autosport)

Toto Wolff: “We have had a brake failure which means we are obliged to make sure that the car is running safe tomorrow. That means switching the brakes supplier. If this results in starting from the pitlane is not yet discussed, and we have not yet brought the decision on that. But we are discussing that with the FIA.”

Lewis Hamilton rules out beating Nico Rosberg in German GP (BBC)

Hamilton: “I’ve got to now do damage limitation again, which I seem to be doing quite often. I’d have to be smoking something to think I could really get to first. Nico’s on pole. He’s got no-one in front of him.”

Vettel disappointed by Renault and Red Bull upgrades (ESPN)

Vettel: “I don’t think as much as we were hoping for. We had an update on the car but it didn’t bring us as much as it was supposed to. It was generally better than this morning so I was fairly happy, on the last run we just didn’t seem to be able to go with the track. I didn’t get a smooth lap and didn’t improve.”

Kevin Magnussen Q&A: FRIC removal to McLaren’s advantage (Formula1.com)

Magnussen: “Personally I feel that the removal of FRIC is to our advantage – and yes, the updates that we’ve brought also play a significant role in our qualifying performance – but I have no idea where the other teams are.”

Albers remains tight-lipped on Caterham driver line-up (NBC)

Christian Albers: “I have seen a lot of rumors in the press as usual in Formula 1. At this moment, of coruse, we have seen Carlos and we have spoken to him also, but at this moment there is nothing done. The drivers are performing now, I was happy today, that’s the situation.”

F1 legend Niki Lauda warns sport needs to change or face extinction (Mirror)

Lauda: “We have a generation of drivers that, if they were not wearing their racing overalls, you would simply walk past some of them and not notice. We must again have the drivers, not the bureaucrats, in the foreground. If we continue like this, no one will be bothered about Formula One anymore. It’s five minutes to twelve.”

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Comment of the day

With Hamilton set to start at the back for today’s German Grand Prix, AdrianMorse doesn’t think it will be easy for the Mercedes driver to make his way to the front…

I’d like to believe those who say he’ll be second in no-time, but I think it’s going to be a bit more difficult than that. If the Williams drivers have a normal race, they will be difficult to catch (they seem to be closer to their Austria form than their Silverstone form, which was still good of course). It should make for an interesting race, of course, but for the championship it looks like Rosberg will cruise to victory with his engine turned down, while Hamilton has to take risks and tax the engine to make it into the top 5.
AdrianMorse

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On this day in F1

The British Grand Prix 40 years ago produced an ideal result for the championship: Jody Scheckter won ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi with the Ferraris of Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda fourth and fifth. That meant the quartet left the circuit separated by three points at the top of the table with five races to go.

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23 comments on “Hamilton may be forced to start race from pit lane”

  1. Just watched qualifying a few hours ago (unfortunately I could not watch it live).

    For one, Williams seems to be very close to Mercedes like they were in Austria, there were only a few tenths between the two cars today.

    Mercedes tend to look far more dominant when they use the harder compound tyres (Bahrain, Spain, Silverstone) than they are when they Pirelli bring the soft compound tyres (Austria, Germany).

    Secondly, this season is showing just what an underrated qualifier Alonso has been for so long. He yet again out-qualified Kimi by a huge margin.

    After the start of the 2013 Suzuka GP, Brundle said: “Alonso would be the perfect driver if he wasn’t so rubbish at qualifying.” Amazing, when you think about it.

    Incredible how much a poor car can deceive people. Alonso matched Trulli and Hamilton on Saturday when they were teammates, that’s hardly bad. In fact, I’d say that Alonso is probably among the top 3 qualifiers in F1 right now, and his wheel-to-wheel racecraft is in a league of its own.

    1. He’s no slouch in qualifying, that’s for sure.

      Without being too gushing about Alonso, maybe being a very good qualifier doesn’t cut it when you’re comparing Alonso’s performances on Saturday to how brilliant he is on Sundays? As such while he’s no pushover in qualifying it suffers in comparison to what he does in the races.

      1. lol Alo is great mate but come on he goes back every saturday. I think it is embarrasing he is 7th but that is just me. And know he did not match Hamilton. Hamilton gets a bad rap for not putting Ros into the dust, fact is he matched Alo from start how can anybody say he was favored when this all started in USA GP. Alo fans need to watch that race. Ham was outqualified by a tenth with more fuel in very first race. He was ahead in Q2. I personally think full tank of fuel is a detriment to Hamilton. Hard tyres with refuelling is almsot an unbeatable combination

        1. I think it is embarrasing he is 7th but that is just me.

          Where does that leave Kimi?
          Maybe 7th was the genuine maximum the F14T could achieve today?

          And know he did not match Hamilton.

          You know what the average qualifying gap between Hamilton and Alonso was in 2007?

          Hamilton was on average 0.016 s faster than Alonso, all 17 Q3 sessions in 2007 added together and divided by 17.

          You don’t get much closer than that.

        2. I’ll point out Alonso hasnt finished behind Hamilton in the WCC since 2010.

          1. Hamilton has never finished ahead nor behind Alonso in the World Constructors’ Championship. @austus

    2. I think it’s a little exaggeration to say Alonso is a poor qualifier, but its true he very rarely pulls off something stunning that sticks in the memory. His advantage is in the remorseless consistency and opportunism, for which he is undoubtedly #1. One lap pace is not however his strongest weapon. Also, Kimi’s form this year is objectively dreadful regardless of his teammate. I wouldn’t compare anyone to him this year to get a feel for their performance.

  2. Why are Merc obliged to change brake suppliers ?
    Or is it just Wolff speak ,

    Am i wrong or did Lewis ask to bring another supplier in after not getting the ‘feel’ for the Mercs original brakes ?

    1. You’d want to change supplier too if a brand new brake disc exploded after a couple of laps.

      1. Was Rosberg running the same type of brakes as Lewis. Surely if they change Hamiltons for safety and leave his as is thats gotta be unnerving

    2. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      20th July 2014, 3:17

      Rosberg has had considerably less issues with the brand of brakes he uses (Carbon Industry or something like that, IIRC), whereas Lewis has had issues with the Brembos, even back to McLaren.

    3. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      20th July 2014, 3:20

      Did anyone miss the Lotus tweet, or are they simply ignoring it trying to think of a happy place? Pastor for another yet in a some-what capable team is a dread for the sport. He certainly hasn’t been wrecking this year, but he’s been outpaced by teams/drivers much lower on the totem pole. I would rather have Sutil for two more years than Pastor for another.

      1. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
        20th July 2014, 3:20

        Ugh, this posted in the wrong spot, sorry!

  3. That little chat between Ron and Charlie seems to be paying big dividends, for Ron.

    1. just more evidence of what a shameful joke F1 governance and sporting administration is, @hohum. shameful that FIA obtained IOC-accreditation but then runs F1 into the ground like this.

    2. @hohum Lol. And they chat about everything all in name of the show as safety car grid restarts and by the way that FRIC thing, the aero aid can I use that next season? Aero aids are banned? tell me more Charlie Whiting.

  4. Gideon Hadi (@)
    20th July 2014, 1:48

    It would be interesting if Rosberg have a trouble in the first lap, and he finishes 1st Lap just in front of Hamilton and then we’ll see how the Mercedes charges from back of the field. That will be fair enough for Hamilton fans

  5. maarten.f1 (@)
    20th July 2014, 6:40

    Personally I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Hamilton makes the podium (bar any problems of course), even when starting from the pitlane. My theory is that if you run a car (any car) long enough in a race, it’ll roughly end up around where it’s supposed to end up. The Mercedes is blindingly quick, run it long enough, and it’ll end up near the podium. Suppose it’ll depend on the Williams cars.

    1. I would also tend to think the Red Bulls might affect Lewis – Ricciardo was good on long runs on Friday so he might be able to make the super soft last and annoy Lewis. Saying that this race has a little of the 2011 Chinese GP about it when MW started at the back and charged through to third (at least I think it was 2011). Go an alternate strategy and keep in clear air as much as possible and Lewis should still be on the podium after the final pit stops.

      And while I’m at it the conspiracy theorists have it very very wrong. It’s just bad luck, it happens, move on.

      Lastly the COTD – Williams’ Silverstone form was great – they just got caught out strategy wise in Q1. You don’t charge from 15th or so to second when you’re not in form. Go Bottas!

  6. Given Hamilton’s at least 1 sec speed advantage, compared to non Mercedes drivers, it wouldn’t be a disaster starting form the pit lane. He will also avoid potential mid-grid collisions. However, Mercedes must not force their policy of the same number of pit stops strategy for both drivers, and let Hamilton have the freedom to choose his own strategy.
    If the weather holds then there will be less uncertainty and therefore should help Hamilton to follow his strategy. He should start with soft tyres and very soon might find himself in the front as all cars with super soft dives to pit lane. So, soft, soft & super soft tyres for the final 6/7 laps dash to finish should give him a podium place.
    Let’s hope the weather holds…

  7. Regarding the Lauda story, James Allen’s also got a piece up on it that’s worth reading.

  8. The irony that is Albers now critiquing other Formula One drivers and their performance…

Comments are closed.