Lewis Hamilton crashes out of qualifying for the German Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton suffered brake failure in opening session and crashed at 165mph. Briton will start only 15th for tomorrow's grand prix at Hockenheim. Hamilton is four points adrift of team-mate Rosberg in drivers' championship. Rosberg secured his fourth pole in five races with Bottas 2nd, Massa 3rd. Hamilton has won in Germany on two previous occasions in 2008 and 2011.

 

He had completed just five laps, condemning him to 16th place, and possibly to starting in the pit lane once his car has been restored, when he should have contested pole.

His only true rival for the prime front-row position was Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who ended up setting the fastest time of the day by sixth-tenths of a second. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, both of Williams, start second and third.

Hamilton was taken to the medical centre for tests while his car was lifted by hoist onto a truck and covered in a black cloth, his hopes of narrowing the four-point deficit to Rosberg at the top of the drivers’ standings badly damaged.

At the paddock, Hamilton said: ‘Nico has basically got another gift, but we will see what we can do tomorrow.’ ‘Why always me?’ he might have added, a la Mario Balotelli.

The hard fact is that Rosberg has out-qualified Hamilton 6-4, an extraordinary statistic given the Briton’s reputation as a one-lap specialist.

However, there is no evidence to underpin the Twitter morons claiming within minutes of the accident that Hamilton is suffering at the hands of pro-German saboteurs in the team.