Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2018

Hamilton “thought the engine was going to blow” during race

2018 Canadian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton says he was concerned his power unit was going to fail when he experienced problems with it at the beginning of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was heard on the radio during the race referring to problems with power delivery. He said afterwards the disruptions were “huge” and he “thought the engine was going to fail.”

“Straight from the start, [I] got down to turn two, power started dropping out,” said Hamilton. “So there’s lots of hesitation, dropping in power. I thought the engine was going to blow.”

The drop-outs were caused by the power unit getting too hot, said Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff. “We had a problem on the cooling of the car. It ran hot straight from the first lap.

“We tried to manage the situation but eventually needed to stop to get on top of the problem.”

Mercedes used Hamilton’s pit stop to remove cooling panels around Hamilton’s head rest to improve ventilation. The team also experienced overheating problems at the first race of the season but Wolff insisted the cooling level “was set absolutely correctly” in Canada.

“We tried to optimise at certain stages of the race, optimise for the start, and it didn’t come together as expected. So it was a mechanical failure.”

Hamilton completed his seventh race distance on the power unit, which keeps him on target to avoid any penalties for changing parts before the end of the season. He said his relief at finishing the race made up for a relatively poor fifth-place finish.

“I’m sure the next couple of days it’ll get more and more painful – ultimately a poor weekend – but it could be a lot worse. I could have had a DNF and lost 25 points.

“However in the two races we’ve lost 18 points or whatever it is. We’ve definitely fallen behind a little bit in that respect but I’m just grateful the engine made it through today and that I got to see the distance.

“I gave it everything I could, didn’t leave anything on the table. That’s all you can do.”

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31 comments on “Hamilton “thought the engine was going to blow” during race”

  1. “I could have had a DNF and lost 25 points.”

    Wouldn’t he had to have been in P1 to lose 25 points.

    1. 25 points to Vettel is what he means. By finishing 5th, he ‘only’ lost 15 points in this race, or 18 in the last two races, which he also alluded to in the same interview.

    2. johntodiffer
      11th June 2018, 3:45

      If he was really concerned by the prospect of a DNF then he probably should have taken his engineer’s advice in the closing stages and wound the PU down.

      1. If at the start of the race he was really concerned by the prospect of a DNF then he probably should have taken his engineer’s advice in the closing stages and wound the PU down.

      2. At the first pit stop, they solved the problem. so he did not need to conserve…

        1. No, the problem was not solved, he had a broken intercooler valve

  2. Johntodiffer
    You do know that turning your engine down means you go slower, right? I wonder why he took the risk of not doing so.

  3. He just cant simply admit vettel was better…. whenever hamilton doesnt win theres always something wrong with the car… its never his fault

    1. He just cant simply admit vettel was better…. whenever hamilton doesnt win theres always something wrong with the car… its never his fault

      Precisely. That has always been the case since Hamilton came into F1. That sort of mindless adulation has been boosted up by the stupid British F1 media to such an extent that Hamilton believes it himself. It is always the engine, tyres or his aunt Nell that stopped him from winning a race, never the fact that the other guy was better.

      1. I don’t agree that Hamilton makes excuses, it’s just the media, especially sky.

        For them it’s always an “off-weekend”, “he looked a bit down after qualifying”, “he’ll bounce back next weekend”.

      2. I wouldn’t go this far, but I gotta say, it’s incredibly frustrating that at every single race Hamilton seems to have ‘engine issues’ or ‘a lot of tyre blistering’, before continuing on at the same pace as before the ‘issue’, or having the tyres last longer than everyone else’s. It’s almost as if he has his excuses ready for if something does go wrong, and it happens at pretty much every race, especially the tyre blistering. And they always broadcast it to. Argh.

    2. @fish123 Did you even listen to the interview Hamilton gave and the questions he was asked? Or did you just post a baseless opinion?

      1. All he said was engine issue engine issue… wht more did he say @ju88sy

        1. @fish123 I heard at least two interviews where Hamilton praised Ferrari and Vettel for a strong weekend. Hence my comment above, but don’t let that stop the two of you from shooting from the hip with confirmation bias.

    3. @fish123

      Complete nonsense. Hamilton often gives credit to others.

      1. @paulguitar

        Name one occasion where he said vettel was better… can u send me a link???

        1. @fish123

          Racing drivers do not say another driver ‘was better’. Hamilton often gives credit to other drivers and says they drove a great race or did a great job. ‘

          And no, I won’t spend my afternoon looking for internet links for you.

          1. Vettel did it a few times during his season with Danny Ric, and did so too as well last year when Kimi grabbed pole at Monaco.

            I remember Rosberg doing so as well regarding Hamilton

            Also Hamilton and Bottas have said it too to each-other

    4. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      11th June 2018, 12:27

      @fish123 actually, that’s probably more true than you think. if Lewis doesn’t win, there is usually something wrong with the car…

      1. sames goes for Marcus Ericsson

  4. Here we with the Sebfosi ripping on Hamilton as per. Sorry but he always gives credit to others and holds his hands up when other do a better job. They ripped panels off his car yet you think he’s making up the overheating issue? How does that make any sense? Did they engineer an elaborate story and carry out mechanical work on his car during an excruciatingly early pitstop for the banter?

    Yet finger boy with undisputed number one status in a team where he’s bombing their chances at WCC year after year by insisting they keep a subservient ageing and slowing Raikonnen can do no wrong. The bias is laughable.

    1. @RB14

      how dare you say Hamilton tells truth… he was just bad, and mechanics work on his car was a cover up for his bad driving :)

      oh you know, when he drives 20+ ahead of nearest person, he was not touching wheels, just car doing autonomous win…

  5. I agree that Hamilton does give credit to the other driver but that is usually when it is obvious. But it is not really him but certain sections of the media. “Crofty” for one and then there is that ***** Oliver Brown of the Daily Telegraph. If you want to talk about laughably biased reporting, read his newspaper ones; he always talks about why Hamilton did not win a race, not how the other guy won it.

  6. Ryan Fairweather
    11th June 2018, 15:58

    Hamilton – Consistently inconsistent and always will be.

    1. Well, Ryan, All drivers have ups and downs to some extent, even Fangio and Prost.

      Federer can’t win every match, despite being probably the greatest tennis player of all time.

      Vettel is brilliant but subject to emotion on track and brain-fade. Likewise, Max. DR is a fantastic all-rounder but perhaps does not have the outright pace of his teammate. Kimi is a bit of a joke these days.

      It must be a huge relief to folks that don’t rate Lewis that he sometimes has anonymous weekends, if he was at 100% all of the time, there wouldn’t be any point in anyone else showing up.

      I don’t think he has fully clicked with the car this year, I doubt we will see too many more 5th places from him. He has been an exceptional talent since karts, and has somehow, despite being ‘consistently inconsistent’, managed to become the second most successful driver in the sport’s history.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      11th June 2018, 18:48

      I’m not sure why you’d assume that Lewis isn’t consistent when his engine is overheating. I think he did pretty well considering the engine was losing power at the start of the race.

      I personally thought he was having issues because of the fact that his engine had a lot of miles and was simply slower or perhaps some kind of set up issue with the Merc. Anyway, he’s probably miffed that he didn’t win the race because of an engine issue as he does really well at Montreal.

  7. YellowSubmarine
    11th June 2018, 18:37

    This forum has improved from the earlier years, and it’s only a Hamilton debate that brings out the old ogres from under their rocks. Plenty in evidence here.

    1. This is nothing on the new trend of Verstappen bashing on here last week. Although probably mostly Hamilton fans partly led by Lewis’ own hypercritical comments about Max.

      1. YellowSubmarine
        11th June 2018, 21:21

        What did he say about Max? I must have missed that. I follow F1 on Sky, and have noticed that the presenters interview pretty much all drivers apart from Hamilton. I wonder what that’s about? Martin Brundle actually avoids Hamilton on the grid-walk, and those little shows over the weekend – the F1 Show, etc – never feature Hamilton, it’s always Bottas or Ricciardo or Vettel, and various of the others, but never the reigning WDC.
        Kinda odd.

        1. what ever secs/mins hamilton is on media, everything he says/does are controversial… no matter how right he is or what the situation caused it…. when vettel does something controversial, unless it involves hamilton, it doesnt stay on too long…

          “hypercritical” comments about MAX? seriously, is that how you tone down his mindless driving style with his cocky attitude for his defense of movements and actions on track?
          Is he a bad driver? nooone saying he is! but with his track record, he will find it hard to stay on top, and i guess red bull made/gave some sense to him for this weekend… because his track attitude of bumper cars and on borderline crazy defensive moves at the edge of outright dangerous will not help him… hopefully he learnt some lessons this weekend and understand racing is not only a single weekend… there is always tomorrow…

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