F1: Hamilton 'lucky' not to crash at start

Lewis Hamilton says he was lucky not to hit the wall at the first corner of the Mexican Grand Prix, due to the brake problem that sent him off the track.

The reigning world champion closed to 19 points behind Nico Rosberg with two Formula 1 rounds remaining with victory at Mexico City, but he suffered a scare at the start when he locked up under braking for the first corner and had to take to the grass.

Related Stories

"On the formation lap I had a glazed right-front brake – I just couldn't wake it up," explained Hamilton. "I had 500 degrees [centigrade] in the left-front and 150-200 in the right-front. So I went into Turn 1 and the right-front just locked.

"I was carrying so much speed there I was lucky I didn't go into the wall or something."

Hamilton's fears were not over after that moment, as he was worried about the damage caused by the locked wheel.

"After that I had the biggest vibration, I didn't know if I was going to be able to make the first stint [without pitting early]. I thought I would have to stop. The vibration was so big I could barely see.

"It was nice when I got some fresh tires – it was much smoother."

Hamilton enjoyed a relatively uneventful race after that, where he maintained a comfortable gap over Rosberg, but he believes the race could have been livened up if softer tires were used.

When asked what could be improved for the Mexican race in future, Hamilton said: "We should bring a much softer tire here.

"One-stop, I don't know if that is exciting for fans. More stops maybe, a tire that doesn't go as far. Maybe that would enable us to have more battles, more struggles.

"The medium tire, we did the whole race with. Today was generally very easy on those tires, so it makes the race a lot easier."

Originally on Autosport.com