Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was nearly replaced by Ocon at Hockenheim

Matthew Scott Saturday 27 July 2019 18:01

Hamilton was nearly replaced by Ocon at Hockenheim

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he came close to dropping out of qualifying for the German Grand Prix, with Esteban Ocon on standby to take his place due to illness.

Hamilton says he woke up on Saturday with a sore throat, and he certainly looked off-colour in FP3 as Ferrari took the lead.

However, the Scuderia completely fell apart in qualifying, with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc both running into mechanical issues to start 20th and 10th respectively.

Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas could not bring the fight to Hamilton, who took pole by more than three tenths of a second, but he later revealed that he had almost not been there at all.

Hamilton 'good enough' to fight Leclerc without Ferrari meltdownRead more

The champion said: "I wasn’t feeling good this morning. I have a sore throat, so we prepped just in case I would not be able to do the session.

"We were prepared to put the second driver in the car in the worst-case scenario. I got through good."

Latest News

F1 Today

F1 News Today: BOMBSHELL Verstappen Aston Martin switch claim issued as RIVAL signing confirmed

44 minutes ago

GPFans Recap

Mercedes set for SHOCK absence as Wolff issues health update - GPFans F1 Recap

Yesterday 23:55

Toto Wolff

Mercedes boss Wolff reveals stress factor in health update

Yesterday 22:55

F1 News & Gossip

F1 driver transfer target issues future UPDATE

Yesterday 21:58

Latest F1 News

F1 team suffer huge loss as RIVAL signing announced

Yesterday 20:58

Latest F1 News

Verstappen 'statement' fuels SHOCK team switch rumours

Yesterday 19:55

More news

F1 News 24/7

Races

About GPFans

GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.

We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.

With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.

Follow us on your favorite social media channel

Corporate & Media

Innovatieweg 20C
7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860

CHOOSE YOUR COUNTRY

Hamilton was nearly replaced by Ocon at Hockenheim

Hamilton was nearly replaced by Ocon at Hockenheim