Hamilton's pole lap under investigation

12/05/2012

Lewis Hamilton's pole winning lap at the Circuit de Catalunya today is under investigation by race stewards after the McLaren driver stopped on track.

On his in-lap, having posted his pole winning time, the 2008 world champion was told to stop his car immediately as there was a problem. When he enquired if the problem was serious Hamilton was told merely to park the car.

Speaking after the session, team boss Martin Whitmarsh, unwilling to give too much away, claimed Hamilton's stop was due to a "technical problem".

The rules stipulate that a driver must have enough fuel in his car for his out lap, timed lap and in-lap, plus a litre for the stewards to use as a sample. However, it is believed the car had just 1.3 litres of fuel on board when it stopped on track.

Hamilton and McLaren have history in terms of this rule, having pulled a similar stunt in Canada in 2010.

Depending on the stewards findings, if the Englishman is to start from pole his team will have to prove 'force majeure'.

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