Mercedes AMG F1 W04

[Ferraripilot]

From the slow mo, it looks like he couldn't slow the car down initially when he hit the brakes, then he had to jam on them to make the car stop and the wheels locked. That's when the above photo was taken I presume.

That's what happened to Schumacher at Singapore, it was believed to be a tire heat issue. Driver error on the part of Hamilton perhaps?

[Red Schneider]

There's an initial puff of tire smoke which abates and then comes back again. It does look like the rear locked up a lot more than the front.

As for driver error... do we really think he's that bad?

[Ferraripilot]

There's an initial puff of tire smoke which abates and then comes back again. It does look like the rear locked up a lot more than the front.

As for driver error... do we really think he's that bad?

Schumacher lost it at Singapore due to tire heat, so why couldn't Lewis? I know it sounds unlikely so call this a guess at best. If he's trying to push even a little in a new car with a new team which he is not at all familiar with yet then this sort of thing could happen.

Brake balance could have been very off for Lewis and he had to overcorrect which resulted in him losing it. Why haven't we heard anything?

note: Mercedes have not breathed a word at the cause of this yet, as opposed to yesterday when they almost immediately stated what the issue was.

[wrcsti]

There's an initial puff of tire smoke which abates and then comes back again. It does look like the rear locked up a lot more than the front.

As for driver error... do we really think he's that bad?

By the ammount of smoke and attitude of the car I am thinking he had a controller failure. Meaning all braking went into only 2 tires (front or rear). Which is hard to tell, likely fronts as he didnt spin wildly.

[Ferraripilot]

The more I look at it, the more I see that as being possible, Lewis initially braked at corner entry. All the tires locked up.

[Shrieker]

Here we go:

Hamilton: “I hit the brake and the pedal went down”

[dren]

Here we go:

Hamilton: “I hit the brake and the pedal went down”

Good read:

“There’s definitely more in it but I’m pushing the aero guys as hard as I can because we need more aero, for sure.”

“Coming from a McLaren that was so competitive at the end of last year, had incredible downforce, you definitely notice the difference But it’s nowhere near as bad as it could be.”

So he's saying the W04 is down on DF.

[Owen.C93]

note: Mercedes have not breathed a word at the cause of this yet, as opposed to yesterday when they almost immediately stated what the issue was.

Almost immediately they said it was a rear brake failure, then they stated what the problem was (brake line to right rear caliper).

[Ferraripilot]

note: Mercedes have not breathed a word at the cause of this yet, as opposed to yesterday when they almost immediately stated what the issue was.

Almost immediately they said it was a rear brake failure, then they stated what the problem was (brake line to right rear caliper).

Excellent. Kind thanks for that.

[dren]

note: Mercedes have not breathed a word at the cause of this yet, as opposed to yesterday when they almost immediately stated what the issue was.

Almost immediately they said it was a rear brake failure, then they stated what the problem was (brake line to right rear caliper).

Excellent. Kind thanks for that.

James Allen has an article up now.

[Red Schneider]

Is this some kind of failsafe thing where the brakes automatically slam on?

[Sevach]

“Coming from a McLaren that was so competitive at the end of last year, had incredible downforce, you definitely notice the difference But it’s nowhere near as bad as it could be.”

So he's saying the W04 is down on DF.

If we assume the MP4-28 will have even more downforce than the car he drove... i'd say the situation might be more worse than what he is saying.

[Ferraripilot]

Is this some kind of failsafe thing where the brakes automatically slam on?

Not sure, but he should be glad they did though. A caliper seal failure is quite odd, but if that's what it is then so be it.

[jav]

My understanding was that the rear brake line has to be rerouted... is that not correct? Caliper seal would liely have been relatively quick to fix.

[NewtonMeter]

My understanding was that the rear brake line has to be rerouted... is that not correct? Caliper seal would liely have been relatively quick to fix.

Even though they know what went wrong, ensuring it doesn't happen again might have proven more difficult.