Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi found himself behind the wheel of an uncontrollable Formula 1 car this morning when his Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso lost both front wheels under braking.
The incident happened during Friday morning’ free practice session for the Grand Prix of China in Shanghai.
Buemi pressed hard on the brake pedal as usual. The STR5 generated some 5Gs of negative acceleration and both front suspensions sheared from the monocoque. The car crashed into the barriers but Buemi was fortunately not injured.
“There’s not much to say about what happened. I braked, the wheels came off and that was it,” Buemi explained.
“Physically, I was fine though. But I have to say, I am extremely disappointed that, once again, through no fault of my own, I have been unable to run for almost all of the three hours available.”
Giorgio Ascanelli, Toro Rosso’s engineer explained the cause of the accident.
“Sebastien’s accident this morning was down to a technical problem on the right hand upright, which proved simple to identify once we got the car back. We have resolved the problem, which the many laps completed by Jaime this afternoon confirms,” The Italian said.
“Apart from the upright, the afternoon accident caused some damage to the gearbox and a combination of fixing this problem and changing the front end meant that, despite the best efforts of the mechanics, we could not get ‘Seb’ out before the end of the day.”
photo: Red Bull
The incident happened during Friday morning’ free practice session for the Grand Prix of China in Shanghai.
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| Image: FOM |
Buemi pressed hard on the brake pedal as usual. The STR5 generated some 5Gs of negative acceleration and both front suspensions sheared from the monocoque. The car crashed into the barriers but Buemi was fortunately not injured.
“There’s not much to say about what happened. I braked, the wheels came off and that was it,” Buemi explained.
“Physically, I was fine though. But I have to say, I am extremely disappointed that, once again, through no fault of my own, I have been unable to run for almost all of the three hours available.”
 |
| Image: FOM |
Giorgio Ascanelli, Toro Rosso’s engineer explained the cause of the accident.
“Sebastien’s accident this morning was down to a technical problem on the right hand upright, which proved simple to identify once we got the car back. We have resolved the problem, which the many laps completed by Jaime this afternoon confirms,” The Italian said.
“Apart from the upright, the afternoon accident caused some damage to the gearbox and a combination of fixing this problem and changing the front end meant that, despite the best efforts of the mechanics, we could not get ‘Seb’ out before the end of the day.”
photo: Red Bull