Hamilton Crashes Mercedes During First Formula One Test
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes had a rough first day together. Hamilton crashed his Mercedes during his first day of Formula One Testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain.
Hamilton crashed at the “Dry Sack” corner on the 15th lap. The car suffered a brake problem and crashed into one of the tire walls.
Mercedes said:
“Lewis suffered a loss of rear brake pressure, the front brakes enabled him to slow the car but he couldn’t avoid the barrier … Obvious damage to the front wing and nose … We have traced the problem to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear caliper.”
The Mercedes AMG Petrons Formula One Team had to end testing after their crash. Hamilton, who walked away from the incident unscathed, said that it was unfortunate that the testing session got cut early but he was still happy about with the work he put in.
Hamilton said:
“A good start but unfortunately a failure brought our day to an early end. These things happen – it’s all part of testing.”
According to Yahoo Sports, Hamilton posted the second fastest time with 19.519 before the crash. Hamilton ended the day in 6th while Romain Grosjean and topped the charts.
Lewis Hamilton walks away unharmed from his crashed Mercedes. There have been better first days on a job twitter.com/ESPNF1/status/…
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) February 6, 2013
The BBC notes that Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg also had a rough first day. Rosberg’s testing session ended after jut 11 laps when he suffered an electrical problem.
Hamilton said:
“I’m just glad that firstly I’m safe and that it’s happened now, not when we’re in the season or something. 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.”
