Nuerburgring: Lewis Hamilton ruled out pole position for McLaren this weekend after the Briton and team mate Jenson Button again laboured in practice at the German Grand Prix on Friday.
The 2008 world champion, who was also fined 1,200 euros for speeding in the pitlane, was around a second behind pacesetters Mark Webber of Red Bull and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
"We definitely can't challenge for pole, having said that we don't know what fuel (load) they are on," he told reporters.
"I think our race pace is perhaps closer than we had in the last race (at Silverstone) which is a good thing but over a single lap, they have definitely got about a second on us. We are pushing as hard as we can, the car's feeling pretty good."
While Hamilton was seventh quickest in the second session, Button could only manage the 11th best time with the pair now realising that any hope of a title tilt this year is all but over.
With 10 races remaining, both McLaren drivers are 95 points adrift of Red Bull's world champion Sebastian Vettel.
"It was one to forget, it's been a pretty tricky day," said Hamilton, fearing rain for Saturday's qualifying and possibly Sunday's race.
"All afternoon I haven't had KERS. I had a problem with the exhaust but it's a test part on the car and it failed."
Comments
0 comment