Had same engine mode problem as Hamilton but it occured shortly after a settings change which he was able to reverse. Loss of power in second practice limited his running.
Power unit problem in qualifying limited his runs in Q3. Power unit problem in qualifying left him tenth on the grid Also had a five-place gearbox change penalty. Power unit problem in qualifying left him last on the grid.
Here’s an overview of the significant technical problems each driver experienced during 2016: Race
These have to be included in any analysis as well, but calculating how many points these cost the drivers is more difficult. However he and Rosberg also suffered non-race-ending technical problems during the season. Simple championship arithmetic rams this point home: his Malaysia engine failure resulted in a 28-point swing against him and his only lost the title by five. In this respect Hamilton was clearly hard done by. This year Hamilton had the team’s single failure and therefore took a full 100% of the team’s points lost due to breakdowns. With 25 points available for a win, 40% of the potential lost points occurred on Hamilton’s side of the garage. Of those Hamilton had two and Rosberg three. In 2014* Mercedes had five failures which led to non-classifications. There is a paradox at work here: The more reliable a teams’ car is, the more damaging a breakdown is for a driver.įor example, compare the situation to two years ago. The Mercedes W07 has been very reliable, as has the the Mercedes PU106C power unit which is also in the back of six other cars. Unfortunately for Hamilton, one of those three was his team mate. Only three drivers on the grid who entered every race had fewer race-ending technical problems than he did during 2016.
Rosberg’s only DNF was his collision with Hamilton in SpainLooking at the big picture, on the face of it Hamilton should be pleased with the reliability he’s had. And if car failures can be said to have cost Hamilton a championship this year that was certainly also true of other drivers before him – particularly those who lost titles to their team mates.īut has the role Hamilton’s unreliability played in Nico Rosberg’s world championship victory been exaggerated? Technical problems are an inevitability in motor racing. “Obviously we had a lot of problems this year,” he said, “and that’s inevitably why I’m in this position.” After seeing his title chances fail yesterday, Lewis Hamilton had a clear view about the role unreliability played in his championship defeat.
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