At the start of the 2022 F1 Belgian Grand Prix race, Lewis Hamilton was involved in a serious collision with Fernando Alonso when they paralleled Les Combes. The Mercedes driver went flying after his right rear wheel touched the Spaniard’s left front wheel, causing irreparable damage to his car.
A suspected water leak was the cause of the Englishman having to stop mid-track on the first lap, and the team decided to send that engine back to the Brixworth factory for an overhaul.
If it is too damaged to be used again, the seven-time world champion will have to take a grid penalty at the next round in the Netherlands. Onboard footage after the accident showed the Briton suffering from a fluid leak in his car, so after seeing the telemetry some 38 seconds later his engineer, Peter Bonnington , told him: “Lift, don’t reload, speed it up just a little.”
Almost a minute after the blow occurred, from the wall they commented to him: “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, loss of water pressure.”
Lewis Hamilton slowly continued to stop and shut down the power unit after 90 seconds with damage. Bonnington’s urgency messages and smoke billowing from the W13 suggested something was wrong with the propellant.
A Mercedes spokesman confirmed to Motorsport.com that the engine had traveled back to Brixworth for examination and therefore a verdict on whether they could continue to use those components, noting that the health of the power unit was “a concern.
The English driver had only used two engines before mounting the third at Spa-Francorchamps, so the example in question was almost new and therefore did not complete the expected cycle of seven Grands Prix, which would mean that Hamilton did not have more replacements available.
The seven-time world champion is also going to the limit with his latest MGU-K , released in Belgium, turbo, control unit and battery , so any change would lead to a grid penalty.
The Silver Arrows team defends that the old engines are still operational, but their mileage will be higher than that of their rivals, which leads them to use it only in free practice sessions on Fridays.
Hamilton ‘s gearbox also took a heavy hit when his car landed, cracking that component. Internal elements are subject to damage inspection, and if they cannot be reused, new ones will need to be assembled in Zandvoort, which will incur a penalty.
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