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Mercedes concede they must address Lewis Hamilton's reliability issues

By Allsports.com.gh
Sports News Mercedes concede they must address Lewis Hamilton's reliability issues
JUL 26, 2014 LISTEN

The Brit has been dogged by mechanical problems of late, and saw his realistic hopes of victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix go up in smoke on Saturday when his car caught fire in qualifying.

A fuel leak handed team-mate and championship rival Nico Rosberg a free run at pole position at the Hungaroring, with the German claiming his place on the front row as he looks to extend his 14-point lead in the drivers' standings.

Hamilton's latest car failure came just seven days after he suffered brake problems at the German Grand Prix, which left him fighting his way through the field from the back of the grid.

The 29-year-old ultimately finished third at Hockenheim, showing the raw pace he has at his disposal when Mercedes do get it right.

But after once again suffering at the hands of technical problems on Saturday, both he and his fans were clearly not happy.

Hamilton launched a thinly-veiled dig at the team in his post-qualifying press interviews, insisting they "need to do better", while fans took to Twitter to express their annoyance at Mercedes.

And in response, the team's head of motorsport, Toto Wolff, conceded they must work harder to help the Brit.

The Austrian - who is sporting a sling at the Hungaroring after being involved in a crash while cycling earlier this week - said: "We understand and share the frustrations of Lewis Hamilton's fans and completely understand they are upset about him losing out to Nico Rosberg because of a reliability issue.

"We want two cars to fight it out on track right up to the last race and not to have the championship influenced by these issues, so we take that very seriously and need to get on top of it."

Hamilton will once again start the race on Sunday from the back of the grid, with reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel taking second spot on the grid in the Red Bull.

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