Following an analysis into Sebastian Vettel’s crash on the sixth day of pre-season testing, Ferrari have revealed that the incident was due to a wheel rim issue.
Sebastian Vettel had completed 40 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya yesterday before crashing out at turn three.
At the time, Ferrari put this down to a “mechanical failure”, which was backed up by the sudden change in direction of the car.
The sudden failure caused the car to spear off across the gravel trap and collide with the barrier, the impact of which meant Vettel required a trip to the medical centre for precautionary checks.
Following a review by Ferrari overnight, they confirmed on the morning of test day seven that the car had suffered a wheel rim issue. They blamed “impact with a foreign object” for the wheel failure.
Charles Leclerc completed on installation lap of the circuit at the back-end of test day six, following a rebuild by the team, and is taking part in the seventh day of testing.
