WASHINGTON — Lewis Hamilton’s first day of testing for his new Mercedes team got off to a bad start when he crashed after 15 laps because of a braking problem on Tuesday.
Reuters
The 2008 Formula One motor racing world champion lost control at the end of the back straight at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.
Hamilton was unhurt after ploughing across a gravel trap and into a tyre wall. The team were unable to fix the car in time to run again, continuing a troubled start to their 2013 campaign.
“I’m just glad that firstly I’m safe and that it’s happened now, not when we’re in the season or something,” said Hamilton.
“This is what testing is about. It’s about getting through those development phases, errors or whatever they may be and working on them and that’s what the guys are doing.”
On the first day of testing on Tuesday, Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg managed only 11 laps before his running was ended by an electrical problem in the wiring loom.
The car was pictured with flames coming from it but these were caused by unburnt fuel in the exhausts after the engine shut off as a precaution.
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Mercedes said Hamilton’s car lost rear brake pressure. He managed to slow the car using the front brakes but could not avoid the barrier.
The problem was traced to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear caliper. The impact with the barrier also damaged the front left corner — the suspension and associated aerodynamic parts.
Hamilton added: “We had a failure with one of the brake pipes, the hydraulic lines, so when I hit the brakes they did not work, basically. Just the front brakes worked, not the rears, so I just went straight on.
“The impact was pretty heavy but it wasn’t as bad as I’ve experienced in the past”.
