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No single reason for Hamilton's brake failure in German GP

Mercedes and brake disc supplier Brembo believe there may not be a single reason behind Lewis Hamilton's brake failure in German Grand Prix qualifying

Investigations have been ongoing into what caused the failure of Hamilton's right front brake disc during Q1 which pitched him in to the barriers at the Sackskurve.

Both the team and brake manufacturer said on Friday that work was continuing to get the answer, with it now appearing likely that a sequence of events may have caused the problem.

A statement issued by Mercedes said: "There is currently no clear evidence of a single cause of failure and our continuing rigorous analysis will take into account multiple factors which could have contributed to the incident.

"The results of this technical analysis will be communicated as soon as they are available."

One possible theory could be that the brake forces experienced by Hamilton in Q1 were higher than the team had anticipated, which pushed the brake disc temperatures outside of their normal operating window.

The track temperatures experienced at Hockenheim, at 58 degrees Celsius, were the highest of the season, and pushing hard in qualifying may have put more heat through the discs than they had experienced up to that point of the weekend.

Although Mercedes swapped Hamilton's front brake from Brembo to Carbone Industrie, the team stuck with Brembo for its rear wheels at the German GP.

Mercedes made clear on Friday that it remained total faith in Brembo's products.

"Formula One is a domain of advanced development where technologies are pushed to their limits and in which strong partnerships are crucially important," it said.

"Brembo and Mercedes remain committed to a close working relationship in the future."

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