Formula One: McLaren’s Hamilton Ran Short of Luck in Hungary
After having seen his stars shine brightly for most part of the year, finally Lewis Hamilton of McLaren had the bad patch of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix last Sunday.
Britain’s top driver entered the race holding the top place of the Drivers’ Championship for a long time but as he moved out of Hungary, the lead was already handed over to Mark Webber of Red Bull, from whom Hamilton snatched it earlier this season.
Hamilton started the race from fifth place on the grid but owing to the gearbox failure, he had to retire from it, leaving the day without having earned any points.
This had been the second race of the season when Hamilton failed to score points; earlier it was the Spanish Grand prix, where he finished at fourteenth pace.
As the race wrapped up for him, he talked to the media saying that, "I was accelerating out of Turn One when I felt a sudden vibration and then a loss of drive. I initially thought it was a driveshaft failure, but it now appears that it was a gearbox problem.”
After the race, he explained that right from the start of the race, he had an issue with the gearbox, which he thought was a brake-related vibration.
He said that even though none of it was his fault nor did anybody blame him. However, he felt very shameful as he knows that the team had worked very hard all weekend as well as all through the season to stay in the front and score some decent points.
He further elaborated that, "It's a pity to have a fault at this stage in the year,” he said that he understands that it comes with the territory of racing, and anything could happen there, especially at times when one pushes the car to such a limit, things are very likely to turn out this way.
Nevertheless, as the race finished, he did not seem very disappointed rather he summed the day saying that from these sorts of incidents, the team learns a lot of things. He also added that he was well aware of the fact that a pointless finish at this time of the season had made things really tough for the team and above all for him. He said with much concern that he now needs to push even harder than he had needed all through the season. He was resolute to make sure that he does not encounter any further problems for the rest of the season now.
He was still hopeful, as he said that both the team drivers are among the front-runners and he was certain that they would soon be back to the first and second places of the charts.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, his teammate Jenson Button finished at eighth slot, which was the other bad news for the team.
On his return from the track, Button said that initially the weekend went well or them, as they showed good pace during the practice sessions. He said that he was looking forward to qualifying, which unfortunately did not work out very well for him and he had to start the final race day as 11th on the grid.
"I got a good start off the line, but I went four abreast into Turn One, and got stuck on the outside, losing about four or five places.”
Still the Team principal Martin Whitmarsh explained that the day was a disappointing one for the team, yet he was happy that they still ran in hot contention for the Drivers' World Championship, as well as for the Constructors' Championship.
The last seven Grand Prix’s of the season are still to go and one can always hope to see the McLarens turn the tables at any moment.
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