Lewis Hamilton illness and Rosberg injury disrupt Mercedes F1 tests

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/19/lewis-hamilton-ill-formula-one-testing-barcelona

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Mercedes, strongly tipped to continue their dominance of Formula One in 2015, have had their preparations in Barcelona disrupted by illness and injury involving Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton, who has still to agree new terms with Mercedes beyond this year, with the new season just three weeks away, was taken ill on Thursday morning and the world champion had to pull out of the afternoon run on the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Hamilton had completed just 11 laps when his Mercedes team said on Twitter: “An unplanned stoppage keeping us off track at the moment. @LewisHamilton is unwell and not able to continue driving today…”

Meanwhile, Rosberg may not be fit enough to take part on Friday because of a trapped nerve in his neck. The German was unable to replace Hamilton on Thursday afternoon and the team recalled their reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein, who had spent the morning driving for the Mercedes-powered Force India through an agreement between the two marques.

A Mercedes spokesman said Hamilton had a high fever in the morning and did not feel comfortable in the car. But he had appeared eager for action when testing started at 9am local time and was among the clutch of prompt starters. He put in an early flying lap before returning to the pits after completing five circuits.

He returned to put in a faster time but to complete a disappointing day he finished as the only driver slower than Susie Wolff, Williams’ test driver. She did more laps (83) than any other driver apart from Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen (94).

Wolff was involved in a collision with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, the morning pacesetter, but returned later in the day. The two drivers came together at turn five.

There was more frustration for McLaren after a bright start from Jenson Button, who completed 21 laps and was just 0.875 seconds off the pace in the morning. But then, like Hamilton, he had to pull out of the afternoon stint because of a problem with the engine’s MGU-K seal, which places a question mark beside Fernando Alonso’s involvement on Friday. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest driver for most of the day, underlining the team’s impressive testing session in Jerez earlier in the month.

But when the softer tyres came out in the afternoon Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) went fastest. He was followed by Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), who was also on soft rubber, Sergio Pérez (Force India), Nasr and Verstappen (Toro Rosso). It was a more encouraging day for Red Bull but they did concentrate on shorter runs.

The current test will be followed by a third and final session, also at the Circuit de Catalunya, starting next Thursday, before the opening grand prix of the season in Melbourne on 15 March.

Meanwhile the Manor team – which competed as Marussia last season – has moved a step closer to emerging from administration in time to compete in 2015.

Geoff Rowley, their joint administrator, said: “We are pleased that the financial restructuring of the company has been progressed after creditor approval of the CVA. With new investment and a continuity of the respected management, the business has the ideal platform from which it can accelerate the operational rebuilding already under way to get a team back racing.

“It has been a long process and we would like to thank everyone involved to reach this milestone. We shall complete our statutory duties as administrators with the necessary filings needed in order to formally exit the company from administration over the next few days.”