Lewis Hamilton suffered a dismal start to the Malaysian GP as his teammate – Nico Rosberg – finishes the first practice session on top. The two time world champion did not manage to complete a single flying lap (halting to a stop at turn 9 on his 5th lap) for what has been described by Mercedes as an engine problem via twitter.
Footage of the stricken car being lifted by the recovery vehicle showed glimpses of smoke rising from the rear of the car.
Should Mercedes confirm the ‘problem’ as an engine failure, Lewis would have to use 1 of the 4 allocated engine changes allowed this year having only completed a single race. This will arguably put his teammate at an advantage for the remaining races.
We will keep you informed of further developments.
Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.124 20 laps
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.497 0.373 17 laps
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.985 0.861 13 laps
4 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:41.543 1.419 14 laps
5 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:41.596 1.472 26 laps
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:41.787 1.663 15 laps
7 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:41.803 1.679 23 laps
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:41.882 1.758 23 laps
9 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:42.055 1.931 18 laps
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:42.064 1.940 16 laps
11 Felipe Massa Williams 1:42.103 1.979 23 laps
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:42.567 2.443 19 laps
13 Raffaele Marciello Sauber 1:42.621 2.497 13 laps
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:42.885 2.761 20 laps
15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:42.893 2.769 13 laps
16 Sergio Perez Force India 1:43.054 2.930 15 laps
17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:43.100 2.976 19 laps
18 Will Stevens Manor 1:46.686 6.562 8 laps
19 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:47.683 7.559 8 laps
20 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes No time 4 lap
Amir Hussain
