LEWIS HAMILTON is itching to climb back into his Mercedes following a debut accident he has described as nothing more than ‘‘a blip’’.

Hamilton’s car suffered a rear-brake failure, eventually hitting a tyre barrier at 35mph.

Hamilton said: ‘‘I hit the brake, and for a split second they worked, but then the pedal went straight down. It wouldn’t work any more.

‘‘What’s happened is disappointing for all of us in the team because everyone has worked so hard over the winter, and we didn’t anticipate this.

‘‘But I’m glad we get things like this out of the way now so we don’t have to worry about it in the future, and I’m glad it hasn’t happened in the last test at Barcelona.”