Hamilton: Running over kerbs didn’t lead to Q1 failure 

Lewis Hamilton insists his hydraulic failure that led to his shock exit from Formula 1 German Grand Prix qualifying was not caused by running wide over the kerbs. 

Hamilton was seen running wide at Turn 1 at Hockenheim in the closing stages of Q1 but he kept his foot planted as he rejoined the track, causing his car to violently jolt over the bumps. Moments later his Mercedes came to a stop due to a hydraulic issue, signalling the end of his participation in qualifying. 

When asked if the problem was caused by his off-track excursion, Hamilton replied: “No. I think it failed before then.

“I used the kerb the same every lap. I got to the kerb and I think the steering broke so that was obviously the issue.” 

As a result, Hamilton is due to start Sunday’s grand prix from 14th on the grid in the latest setback to his bid to claim a fifth world championship, with title rival Sebastian Vettel on pole and in prime position to extend his eight point advantage in the standings. 

But the Briton does not expect a repeat performance of his superb comeback drive at Silverstone will be possible in Germany.

“I’ll give everything tomorrow to see how high I can get up. But it’s not going to be like Silverstone,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be able to get through to some point but to where I don’t know.

“It definitely was a tough one. But these things happen and all you can do is gather your thoughts and [take] any of the negative energy and out it towards trying to do your best the next day. Live to fight another day. Another opportunity to rise.”

In contrast to his driver, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes the failure was triggered by Hamilton running over the Hockenheim kerbs, but added a full post-mortem will unearth the true cause. 

“The problem was that we seemed to damage a bit in the car jumping over the kerb and that caused the hydraulic leak,” Wolff explained. “But we need to get the car back and see if that was really the case.”