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Hamilton woes as rain hits qualifying
Source: Agencies |
October 10, 2010, Sunday
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LEWIS Hamilton's Japanese Grand Prix nightmare intensified yesterday when McLaren said its Formula One title contender would have a five-place penalty on the starting grid for a gearbox change.
"In P3 (final practice) today, we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," the team said in a statement.
"This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis's car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we'd originally diagnosed.
"A decision was later taken to change the gearbox ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session and the grand prix. As a result, Lewis will receive a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race."
Qualifying could not take place yesterday due to heavy rain at Suzuka and was postponed to this morning.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion who has failed to finish three of his last four races, has completed only a handful of laps so far after crashing in Friday's first practice and missing most of the second.
Hamilton is third overall, 20 points behind Red Bull's championship leader Mark Webber with four races remaining including today.
The start of yesterday's hour-long session at Suzuka was pushed back three times at half-hour intervals, with the safety car making several test runs in a cloud of spray, until fading light made a postponement inevitable. Conditions are expected to improve overnight, with today said to be dry.
Normal parc ferme conditions would apply from the start of qualifying with the cars weighed and checked as normal afterwards.
It will be the second time that qualifying has had to be shifted to Sunday at Suzuka. In 2004 typhoon Ma-on blew through the area, forcing the teams to batten down the hatches until race day.
Yesterday's final practice had already been washed out, with just two drivers setting a time as others abandoned their efforts amid rain.
"In P3 (final practice) today, we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," the team said in a statement.
"This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis's car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we'd originally diagnosed.
"A decision was later taken to change the gearbox ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session and the grand prix. As a result, Lewis will receive a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race."
Qualifying could not take place yesterday due to heavy rain at Suzuka and was postponed to this morning.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion who has failed to finish three of his last four races, has completed only a handful of laps so far after crashing in Friday's first practice and missing most of the second.
Hamilton is third overall, 20 points behind Red Bull's championship leader Mark Webber with four races remaining including today.
The start of yesterday's hour-long session at Suzuka was pushed back three times at half-hour intervals, with the safety car making several test runs in a cloud of spray, until fading light made a postponement inevitable. Conditions are expected to improve overnight, with today said to be dry.
Normal parc ferme conditions would apply from the start of qualifying with the cars weighed and checked as normal afterwards.
It will be the second time that qualifying has had to be shifted to Sunday at Suzuka. In 2004 typhoon Ma-on blew through the area, forcing the teams to batten down the hatches until race day.
Yesterday's final practice had already been washed out, with just two drivers setting a time as others abandoned their efforts amid rain.
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