July 21, 2007

The Nürburgring does not like Mclaren right front wheels...

In 2005 it was Kimi, today it was Lewis Hamilton.
Apparently Lewis is fine but extremely lucky as he came very close to vaulting over that tire barrier. This replay clip from Germany's amazing Premiere on-board channel really shows the brutal violence of the crash.



The Official F1 web site has a fairly clear explanation of the incident:

"A failure on the wheelgun, or at least the wrong pneumatic air pressure applied to it, was at the root of Lewis Hamilton's qualifying accident at the Nurburgring. To summarise, the fault meant it was not possible for the mechanic changing the right-front wheel to completely fasten the wheel nut (1), although it did allow the safety pin (2) to be pulled into its required position, preventing the wheel nut loosening completely and hence the wheel falling off. The result of the fault was a small gap (5 - in yellow) between the central mounting of the wheel (3) and the brake disc holder (4). This allowed the wheel an abnormal degree of freedom in relation to the aforementioned assembly and the inner edge of the rim started touching and scratching against the edge of the carbon fibre brake drum (6), damaging the rim (7) and causing the sudden deflation of the tyre."
Formula 1.com

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