• German Grand Prix

Puncture was 'cruel luck' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton suffered a puncture on the second lap of the German Grand Prix © Sutton Images

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Lewis Hamilton is hoping to fight back at the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend after a puncture put him out of contention at Hockenheim on Sunday.

Hamilton got a puncture on the second lap of the German Grand Prix after running through debris scattered over the track after first lap collision. He was the only driver to damage his tyres on the shards of carbon fibre and put the incident down to "cruel luck".

"My second-lap puncture was incredibly unfortunate: there was debris scattered across the full width of the track and I didn't have any option other than to drive straight through it," he said. "What's more frustrating is that, at the time, I was the eighth car through - so to be the one to get the puncture is just cruel luck.

"It was immediately clear that my car didn't feel the same after the puncture. However, after a few laps, I was able to adapt my driving style, and the car had good pace during the middle stint. However, with the damage to the rear, I think we were lucky to get that far, to be honest."

After his second pit stop Hamilton rejoined the track amid the front runners and managed to unlap himself from the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. In the knowledge that the car is competitive, he is now looking forward to next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

"At least I was able to have some fun out on track - my pace was good enough to be able to match the leaders during the middle stint. And that's encouraging for me, because we know our car's been genuinely quick this weekend. A big thank-you to everyone back at the factory for all their efforts to get a lot of new parts onto the car this weekend - every little bit helps, and we know there's even more in the pipeline. We'll put that pace in our pockets and take it to Hungary next weekend. I'm back in the car in five days' time - and that's the best possible news for me after a day like today."

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