Lewis Hamilton made a poor start to his first official test for Mercedes when he lost control of the car and crashed into the barrier at Jerez. What is being described as a braking issued caused him to lock the brakes at 170mph heading into turn six, crossing the gravel trap on his 15th lap of this morning's session. The accident caused the session to be red flagged.

Mercedes has confirmed that the crash was due to a mechanical failing. 'Lewis suffered a loss of rear brake pressure, the front brakes enabled him to slow the car but he couldn't avoid the barrier.'  'Lewis himself is fine.'