Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren car during testing at Sepang last week featured no fewer than four rear-view mirrors.
The English rookie, however, had not simply requested a better view of the cars behind him.
Instead, it emerges that the two extra mirrors – mounted on the top of the MP4-22’s sidepods – were designed to give 22-year-old Hamilton an easy glimpse of engine smoke.
Italian sources report that Mercedes-Benz engineers wanted to test and push the limits of the V8 engine on the Malaysian layout. Catching an engine failure early makes it easier to investigate.
Hamilton, who finished third on debut in Australia last month, stopped trackside at Sepang on both Thursday and Friday with oil leaks.
