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HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) Squatting next to his Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton lowered his head and remained perfectly still for several moments.
The British driver seemed lost in thought, immersed in contemplation, apparently unable to believe what happened on Saturday. A hydraulic failure had prematurely ended his qualifying race, dropping the Formula 1 record holder for pole positions to 14th place on the starting grid of Sunday's race.
Hamilton hopes to win a fourth German Grand Prix Michael Schumacher- were shaken. And his troubles pile up as he argues with Sebastian Vettel – in a seemingly faster Ferrari – for a fifth Formula One title.
July was a bad month for Hamilton. He retired from the Austrian GP and was eliminated from the British GP. He recovered from the last goal to finish second at Silverstone and faced another tough fight at Hockenheim.
Even worse, Vettel is going from pole.
"We did not know that Ferrari would be so fast in straight lines"
After slipping off the track early in qualifying, Hamilton came back. But because his power steering was not working, he snuck into the rough grass and bounced off a sidewalk, sending the Mercedes looking threateningly up and down with a bit of hump .
"It was certainly not Lewis driving. A hydraulic leak caused a breakdown of power steering, "said Toto Wolff, head of motor sport at Mercedes, apparently eager to launder his lead. "We're unhinging how the problem came in. It was not caused by the driver."
Hamilton even desperately tried to push his car back to the pits to continue qualifying.
"My first thought was to bring the car back to the garage at all costs," Hamilton said.
But even with the help of the track officials, he realized that it was a futile effort. Then he stopped and knelt beside his car, catching him with one hand and bowing his head as he was almost praying.
"I had just pushed a big car to almost 100 meters. I gathered my breath, "he explained later." Sometimes it takes a second to realize what happened (and) then you have to accept it. "
Mercedes was the ultimate in reliability, dominating F1 with four championships and manufacturers, but the Silver Arrows team is 20 points for Ferrari and 8 points for Hamilton for Hamilton
. could increase after Sunday, 11th race of 21 this season.
"We have a stern warning today," Wolff
However, warning signs have shone like a beacon this season. made mistakes in strategy and communication, and Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas retired from the GP of Austria three weeks ago because of a mechanical failure.
"Ferrari does not have a car. have not had the problems we've known, maybe they'll do it, maybe "These are times when we just have to work harder – there is no excuse for these scenarios, and we do not try to do them."
Wolff recognizes that the team looking for answers, an uncomfortable position after years of domination.
"(There are) clearly a lot of shortcomings On our side We should not have a double DNF in Austria, where we were solid 1-2", said Wolff. "Lewis would have won the race, we would have scored 43 points and would have been leading in both championships."
Mercedes has a lot to do, from top to bottom. "
" We have to improve all of them. We need to improve the reliability and robustness of the car, "continued Wolff." We need to minimize strategic mistakes. We need to increase the production of the chassis and the engine in order to stay in the fight for the title. "
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Follow Jerome Pugmire on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeromepugmire
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