Hamilton's engine problem: "The oldest of the three in the system"

The loudest cheer of the day from the Dutch fans came when Lewis Hamilton stopped out on the Zandvoort circuit. The Mercedes drvier stopped with a power related problem and missed out on virtually the whole session. But, there's not a lot of concern in the Mercedes garage. 

With Zandvoort returning to F1 after a 36 year absence, the Friday practice sessions were more important to teams and drivers than usual. There is a lack of data for this circuit, and therefore as much running as possible was important. Hamilton was only able to complete 20 laps, with FP1 also heavily distrupted with Sebastian Vettel's Mercedes power unit issue. 

Not too bad

Sky Sports pit reporter Ted Kravtiz reports that Mercedes used the oldest engine in Hamilton's allotment. 

"It was power unit one. The oldest of the three in the system. They don't want to have any stoppage, but if there was any optimism beyond that, it might not be the one they were hoping to compelte the rst of the weekend, if there was a silver lining, it was the engine that had done the most mileage. But it doesn't excuse the fact that he lost mileage today," Kravtiz said.