Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Mercedes explains Hamilton's Singapore failure

Mercedes' executive director Toto Wolff has revealed Lewis Hamilton's retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix was caused by a turbo boost leak.

Hamilton was running competitively in fourth place when he reported a loss of power and started dropping back through the field. Mercedes attempted to resolve the problem during the race but eventually retired Hamilton's car after a number of laps running off the pace.

Wolff explained after the race that a small part had failed which caused a much bigger problem.

"We had a very minor bit – a metal clamp – that broke and had a massive effect," Wolff said. "The clamp was holding the plenum together and when it jumped off it caused boost leak. It was a freak thing. We have run the design for a long time and it was a typical metal clamp and it just broke."

However, when asked if Hamilton would need a new power unit as a result, Wolff replied: "Lewis’s engine shouldn’t have any problems."

Hamilton felt win was possible before failure

REPORT: Vettel takes third win as Hamilton retires in Singapore

AS IT HAPPENED: 2015 Singapore Grand Prix

Click here for some of the most memorable crashes at Singapore

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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.