Lewis Hamilton’s wretched run in qualifying continued at the German Grand Prix as an apparent brake failure sent the Formula One title contender crashing out in the opening session at Hockenheim.
Working his way through the stadium complex, and poised to set the quickest time with just over seven minutes remaining, Hamilton was suddenly sent pirouetting off track and into a tyre barrier.
Replays showed a puff of black smoke shoot out from the front-right brake on Hamilton’s Mercedes on his approach into a left-handed loop.
After taking a few moments to compose himself before emerging from the cockpit of his wrecked car, Hamilton said over the team radio: “I put my foot on the pedal and something failed.”
Hamilton eventually clambered from the cockpit of his car, raising his right hand to acknowledge he was okay.
Race director Charlie Whiting immediately red-flagged the session, with Hamilton’s time from his initial hot lap at least good enough to keep him out of the bottom six at the end of Q1.
With Mercedes confirming a right-front brake disc failure, this was the latest blow to a man renowned for his speed over one lap.
In Canada, the 29-year-old made minor errors in the final run that allowed team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg to claim pole.
A fortnight later at the Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton made mistakes on both of his fast laps in Q3, leaving him down in ninth.
And then just two weeks ago in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Hamilton made an error of judgement in changeable conditions, opting to abort his final run.
Behind him, Rosberg sped by and went on to claim pole again, leaving Hamilton angry with himself, albeit with redemption on Sunday with a victory to savour.
Come the end of the middle session, with Hamilton naturally unable to take part, he qualified 16th.
But with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez serving a three-place penalty for an incident in the last race at Silverstone, Hamilton will start 15th.
Ahead of him in 11th will be McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Jean-Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso 13th and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean 14th.
Behind Hamilton will be Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, then Gutierrez, followed by Marussia’s Jules Bianchi, with the Frenchman doing a fine job to out-qualify the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado.
The back three will be the Caterhams of Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson either side of Max Chilton in his Marussia in 21st.
Ericsson’s participation is at the discretion of the stewards as he failed to set a time due to a hydraulics failure, but it is unlikely to be in doubt.
