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From GMM
Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes went up in Mercedes-flavoured fire on Saturday.
After Brembo brake failure pitched the Briton into the qualifying barriers at Hockenheim, just seven days later it was a fuel leak that set fire to his pole hopes in Hungary.
"I think it's getting beyond bad luck," said Hamilton. "It's something else."
The famously sensitive and understandably frustrated 2008 world champion was speaking to reporters immediately after stalking back to the paddock in disbelief.
But he promptly changed out of his white overalls and left the circuit before the usual engineering debriefs.
"I feel so bad for Lewis because this is such a tight championship," said boss Toto Wolff. "He asked if he could go and we said 'Yeah, go home'."
"It is completely unfair on Lewis, especially as he was fastest all weekend and would have won the race," added Niki Lauda.
"It is very difficult to pass here. He was fastest and would have been fastest again."
The heat, according to the Austrian, is now on team boss Paddy Lowe, whose main focus is the technical package of the otherwise-dominant Mercedes.
"You can rely on the fact that Mercedes, above all Paddy Lowe, will investigate and understand everything," Lauda told RTL television.
Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes went up in Mercedes-flavoured fire on Saturday.
After Brembo brake failure pitched the Briton into the qualifying barriers at Hockenheim, just seven days later it was a fuel leak that set fire to his pole hopes in Hungary.
"I think it's getting beyond bad luck," said Hamilton. "It's something else."
The famously sensitive and understandably frustrated 2008 world champion was speaking to reporters immediately after stalking back to the paddock in disbelief.
But he promptly changed out of his white overalls and left the circuit before the usual engineering debriefs.
"I feel so bad for Lewis because this is such a tight championship," said boss Toto Wolff. "He asked if he could go and we said 'Yeah, go home'."
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| Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes W05 caught fire even before the Briton could set a time in Q1 (Photo: WRi2) |
"It is completely unfair on Lewis, especially as he was fastest all weekend and would have won the race," added Niki Lauda.
"It is very difficult to pass here. He was fastest and would have been fastest again."
The heat, according to the Austrian, is now on team boss Paddy Lowe, whose main focus is the technical package of the otherwise-dominant Mercedes.
"You can rely on the fact that Mercedes, above all Paddy Lowe, will investigate and understand everything," Lauda told RTL television.