Wheel falls off F1 car and hits mechanic in terrifying Chinese GP moment

21 April 2024 , 07:35

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A mechanic was knocked off his feet when a wheel fell off Pierre Gasly's car (Image: F1 TV)

TV replays showed the scary moment a mechanic was struck by a wheel which fell off Pierre Gasly 's car after a pit stop blunder.

Gasly stopped a dozen laps into the Chinese Grand Prix for his first tyre change of the race. But it went anything but smoothly as one of his tyres was not properly attached to his Alpine.

And it almost had dire consequences as, when he went to set off again, the tyre fell off the car and struck one of his mechanics. The Alpine employee was knocked off his feet as colleagues scrambled to put the wheel back on the car.

Fortunately, it did not seem to do any lasting damage to the mechanic. The wheel was reattached, but the pit stop almost took 20 seconds to complete and Gasly tumbled down the order as a result.

And the stewards said they would investigate the incident after the session with the prospect of a penalty looming. Teams are usually penalised for releasing a car which is in an unsafe condition, including when wheels are not properly attached.

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Though not Gasly's fault, the incident rather summed up the Frenchman's weekend in Shanghai. After the only practice session of the weekend he raged over the radio: "Guys, this is not acceptable - I haven't learned anything! Absolutely nothing!"

Alpine confirmed that, during that session, Gasly had been suffering with an energy recovery system issue on his car. It was fixed and he reached Q2 in qualifying on Saturday, though only managed to go 15th fastest.

In general, Alpine have made a wretched start to the new season. They finished fourth in the constructors' championship in 2022 but slipped back to sixth last year, miles off the top five. And this term things have got even worse.

Alpine haven't scored a single point yet and have shown woeful pace on track. Their engines have been underpowered for a while but they have struggled to aerodynamically develop their car which has led to the Enstone outfit being swallowed up by the bottom teams.

They are one of three teams without a point to show for their efforts. That means the likes of RB and Haas are ahead of them in the constructors', much to the frustration of drivers Gasly and Esteban Ocon.

Daniel Moxon