Mercedes: Hamilton didn't cause failure by running over kerbs

Mercedes has confirmed the hydraulic failure on Lewis Hamilton's car during qualifying for the German Grand Prix on Saturday occurred before he ran wide at Turn 1 - and was not caused by the Briton's heavy impact with the kerb.

Hamilton slowed and reported a gear-shift issue on his car at the end of Q1, leaving him 14th on the grid at best for the race, with replays showing he had run wide at the first corner around the time the failure occurred.

Hamilton told reporters after the session that he had not caused the failure by running wide and hitting the kerb hard, the car having jumped up in the air on exit of the corner, but team boss Toto Wolff said it was not clear if this was the case or not.

After recovering Hamilton's car and completing checks, Mercedes confirmed the issue had occurred at Turn 1, but not as a result of the contact with the kerb at the corner.

"We had the failure at Turn 1 as Lewis ran the 'normal' kerb which all the drivers use in that stage of qualifying," a Mercedes spokesperson said.

"Then, with failed power steering as a result of the hydraulic failure, he had the 'jumping' moments that were seen on TV, and which people understandably might have been the cause of the issue - but were in fact a consequence of it."

More to follow.