Scuderia Ferrari tried to help Mercedes mechanics remove the stuck wheel that caused Valtteri Bottas to retire in last Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo.
The unusual sight of mechanics unable to get the Finn’s wheel off during a pitstop was a major problem for the Brackley based team, as it meant Red Bull sped past in the constructors’ world championship.
“The gun made the wheel nut completely round,” team boss Toto Wolff told motorsport-magazin.com. “I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s nothing left of it. Valtteri told us he could see the metal shavings fly up. The tyre is still on the car now,” the Austrian added, revealing that after “Ferrari helped us with heavy equipment like a sledgehammer following the race, the team will have to try again to remove the wheel once back at the factory. We have to see whether this is a design error of a failure of several systems,” Wolff said. It has nothing to do with the mechanic,” he insisted. “He is actually one of the best and fittest on the team when it comes to pitstop speed.”
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