A title bid goes up in smoke

40

This is a picture that hardly requires a caption, but which all by itself speaks volumes about the state of the 2016 Formula One world championship.

It's clear from the body language alone that Lewis Hamilton can hardly believe what he's seeing. He was in a commanding position in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday when suddenly - completely without warning to the driver or to the team - the Mercedes engine suddenly let go and spat flame and oil into turn 1.

"Oh no! No!" said a distraught Hamilton, who for several moments sat with his head in his hands in the cockpit of the stricken car before finally bowing to the reality and climbing out.

While he waited for the safety crews to arrive, together with the crane that would lift the car away from the track, all he could do is stare and wonder why this had happened to him once again, when the other drivers running Mercedes engines had enjoyed a trouble-free season.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.