Photo: Daimler AG
After qualifying in pretty good positions, with Lewis Hamilton in third place and Nico Rosberg in sixth, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers completely ran out of luck during the Suzuka race on Sunday.
After making contact with race winner Sebastian Vettel in the first lap, Hamilton suffered a rear tire puncture which forced him to pit early.
Unfortunately, the car sustained a lot of damage during his three-wheel lap back to the pits, which meant that Lewis had to retire just seven laps into the race.
Lewis Hamilton: "I got a fantastic start this afternoon, better than both Red Bulls for probably the first time this year. Mark moved right, so I had to move as well, which sandwiched Sebastian between me and Romain. Seb’s front wing clipped my right rear, cut the tire and that was that. It wasn’t his fault at all, just one of those things that wasn’t meant to be this afternoon. I feel most gutted for the team - the guys here at the track and in the factory - because they are doing an amazing job right now and we’re just not getting the reward for it. Looking to the last four races, I will just be going out there to enjoy them and score as many points as I can for the team. I still believe that second in the Constructors’ Championship is in our reach if our luck takes a turn for the better and that’s what we will all be aiming for."
Nico Rosberg's stint in the race wasn't much better than Lewis', even though he at least managed to finish the race in eight position, bringing four points to the team.
Following his first pit stop on lap 12 he was given a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, losing around 20 seconds because of this.
Nico Rosberg: “I made a good start today and was in a strong position until my first pit stop. Unfortunately we then had the incident as I left the pit box which ultimately cost me a top position. We will analyze internally with the team what went wrong but it was immediately clear that we would get a penalty. After that, we switched to a three-stop strategy and that worked out as well as it could for us. I was able to do some good overtaking maneuvers, although I wasn’t happy with Perez as the rules are clear; you can defend once and close the door but you can’t switch sides again. Trying to overtake the Sauber at the end was very tough and while it’s difficult to be satisfied with eighth place given our potential, at least we were able to salvage some points.”
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team is still in third place in the Constructors Championship, just ten points behind Ferrari, while the Drivers Championship finds Hamilton in fourth position while Rosberg is in sixth.
Unfortunately, the car sustained a lot of damage during his three-wheel lap back to the pits, which meant that Lewis had to retire just seven laps into the race.
Lewis Hamilton: "I got a fantastic start this afternoon, better than both Red Bulls for probably the first time this year. Mark moved right, so I had to move as well, which sandwiched Sebastian between me and Romain. Seb’s front wing clipped my right rear, cut the tire and that was that. It wasn’t his fault at all, just one of those things that wasn’t meant to be this afternoon. I feel most gutted for the team - the guys here at the track and in the factory - because they are doing an amazing job right now and we’re just not getting the reward for it. Looking to the last four races, I will just be going out there to enjoy them and score as many points as I can for the team. I still believe that second in the Constructors’ Championship is in our reach if our luck takes a turn for the better and that’s what we will all be aiming for."
Nico Rosberg's stint in the race wasn't much better than Lewis', even though he at least managed to finish the race in eight position, bringing four points to the team.
Following his first pit stop on lap 12 he was given a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, losing around 20 seconds because of this.
Nico Rosberg: “I made a good start today and was in a strong position until my first pit stop. Unfortunately we then had the incident as I left the pit box which ultimately cost me a top position. We will analyze internally with the team what went wrong but it was immediately clear that we would get a penalty. After that, we switched to a three-stop strategy and that worked out as well as it could for us. I was able to do some good overtaking maneuvers, although I wasn’t happy with Perez as the rules are clear; you can defend once and close the door but you can’t switch sides again. Trying to overtake the Sauber at the end was very tough and while it’s difficult to be satisfied with eighth place given our potential, at least we were able to salvage some points.”
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team is still in third place in the Constructors Championship, just ten points behind Ferrari, while the Drivers Championship finds Hamilton in fourth position while Rosberg is in sixth.
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