Reliability issues and first-lap collisions have blighted Hamilton's title defence as Nico Rosberg opens up 43-point lead
Thursday 19 May 2016 11:39, UK
Lewis Hamilton has slipped 43 points behind championship leader - and Mercedes team-mate - Nico Rosberg after being dogged by misfortune so far in 2016.
Whether it's reliability problems, first-lap collisions or slow starts, his title defence is already severely under threat.
But how many points has 'bad luck' really cost Hamilton?
Australian GP
Grid: 1st; Race: 2nd (18 points)
After dominating all three practice sessions and beating Rosberg to pole by 0.3 seconds, the stage looked set for Hamilton to ease to victory at the season-opening race.
But after a poor getaway, both Hamilton and Rosberg were passed by the fast-starting Ferraris and the world champion even fell as low as seventh on the opening lap.
Hamilton blamed his struggle off the line on wheelspin but it was contact with Rosberg - who nudged the Englishman wide at Turn One - which had the biggest effect on his race. Hamilton's front wing had to be replaced following the red flags and, despite having difficulty passing Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, was able to recover to finish second.
He was never able to worry Rosberg, though, who profited from Ferrari's tyre strategy blunder to win.
Points lost through 'bad luck': 0
Rosberg's move was forceful, but certainly not against the rules, and with a better start and entry into the corner Hamilton wouldn't have found himself in that position. Unlucky? It was in his hands - and he couldn't point to Mercedes mechanical failures on this occasion.
Bahrain GP
Grid: 1st; Race: 3rd (15 points)
Hamilton produced the fastest lap ever recorded at Bahrain to secure pole but, once again, he came undone at the start.
Whereas wheelspin was the culprit in Australia, Hamilton admitted his own reactions could've been sharper under the lights in the desert - although he was still on Rosberg's tail into Turn One before an over-eager Valtteri Bottas - handed a drive-through penalty for his error - rammed into the side of his Mercedes.
"Lewis left the door open but Valtteri shouldn't have walked through it. He was a day late and a dollar short," said Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle.
Mercedes calculated the damage done to Hamilton's W07 was worth a second of track time per lap but he still battled back to third, pushing Kimi Raikkonen before the Ferrari pulled away with the final stint. Rosberg, meanwhile, was celebrating five in a row.
Points lost through 'bad luck': 10
Bottas was handed a penalty and completely at fault for the incident but with a good getaway Hamilton shouldn't have even been close to a Williams at that early stage.
But after his exploits in qualifying, Hamilton would have been confident he could have caught Rosberg. His team-mate finished 30 seconds up the road in the end, though the Brit's car was severely damaged.
Chinese GP
Grid: 22nd; Race: 7th (six points)
Already in the knowledge that he would start no higher than sixth due to a pre-race gearbox change, Hamilton's weekend quickly went from bad to worse when Q1 started in Shanghai. The world champion was unable to set a qualifying time due to an engine failure, and would start the race at the back of the grid.
On this occasion, Hamilton claimed he had the fastest start of the whole field and was quickly making early ground. However, as if playing catch-up wasn't a big enough challenge, he made contact with Felipe Nasr following the first corner, with the Sauber trying to avoid Raikkonen following the Finn's collision with team-mate Vettel.
There was nothing Hamilton could do. Again, it was to be an afternoon of damage limitation as the race played into Rosberg's hands.
Not only was Hamilton's front wing badly damaged, but the floor of his W07 then suffered damage when the wing became lodged beneath the car, severely affecting the aerodynamics.
Felipe Massa's sixth place proved too big an ask for Hamilton, though he didn't cover himself in glory when locked in a battle with the Williams and Daniel Ricciardo. "That is quite possibly the worst lap I have seen Lewis Hamilton drive in an F1 car," noted Brundle.
But was this just because the W07 drove like a "four-poster bed"? As for the problems with the MGU-H, Mercedes claimed they understood the issues and would bring the failed power unit to the next race as a spare.
Points lost through 'bad luck': 12
A Chinese GP to forget for Lewis. Mechanical issues plagued his whole weekend while he was incredibly unfortunate to hit Nasr after his flying getaway.
Rosberg's performance in qualifying, especially on the soft tyre, was impressive and his race was peerless, but, without the mitigating circumstances, Hamilton would have fancied a run at Sebastian Vettel for second place - at least.
Russian GP
Grid: 10th; Race: 2nd (18 points)
The stage was set for a qualifying shootout between Rosberg and Hamilton before more unreliability problems blighted Lewis' Saturday. Again, a power unit had failed - though at least he'd made it into Q3 this time.
Starting from 10th, Hamilton finally managed to avoid heavy contact on lap one and the Vettel-Kvyat collision played into his hands, rising up to fifth when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
His overtaking skills were impeccable as he rounded Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas and at one stage an unlikely race victory was in his sights.
Hamilton had cut Rosberg's gap out in front to seven seconds before being warned of a 'water pressure' issue which cooled off his charge to such an extent that Hamilton eased off down the straights. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I couldn't win it, I had the pace," said Hamilton.
Points lost through 'bad luck': 0
Wolff was quick to brand fans peddling conspiracy theories as "lunatics" but the problems just keep adding up for Lewis, who may already have to take his third engine of the season. Faster than Rosberg on Friday and in Saturday morning practice, he couldn't really have done any more in Sochi and his qualities were evident in the race when cutting the leader's gap.
But was pole, let alone ending Rosberg's winning streak, on offer? Hamilton's team-mate held an advantage over him in Q2 and set a lap record, completing a 'grand slam' in the process, during the race in Sochi. Rosberg was faultless and he may not have been caught.
On the whole, however, Hamilton has been very, very unfortunate at the start of 2016 - with his woes costing him at least 20 points and maybe many more.
