Fernando Alonso explained his experience from the cockpit after his Aston Martin steering wheel came off during FP2 at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Alonso is yet to score a point so far in 2025 as Aston Martin’s performance problems from last year have followed through to the current campaign.
To make matters worse, Alonso lost crucial time in FP2 when the steering wheel came off of his AMR25.
Post-session, Alonso talked through the peculiar events he experienced in the cockpit.
“Yeah, the car was not working and I could not shift gears at one point,” Alonso told select media, including Motorsport Week.
“I had the dash off, so I could not communicate with the team either.
“And yeah, in the last corner, the wheel was off, so yeah, we realised that maybe the steering column or the wheel or something had a problem.
“The mechanics quickly changed the parts and everything was fine.
“So yeah, a moment there, but yeah, thanks to everyone in the garage to fix it quite fast.”
Aston Martin replaced the steering column on the Spaniard’s car, but he missed crucial running, made all the more pivotal given he handed over driving duties to Felipe Drugovich in FP1.
When it rains, figuratively, it pours.
Bahrain will be another slog for Alonso and Aston Martin
Once Alonso’s car was fixed, he was able to clock some laps to finish Friday’s FP2 session in 15th.
His team-mate Lance Stroll languished down in 19th, a worrying sign for Aston Martin with FP2 being the only representative session regarding track conditions ahead of qualifying.
The veteran Spaniard is resigned to having yet another difficult weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“I think it’s going to be a tough weekend,” Alonso said.
“Unfortunately, we seem not to have the pace.
“Before coming here, the characteristics of Bahrain was a little bit of a concern for us, for our package, and, yeah, probably we confirm it today that we are not competitive.
“So yeah, it’s going to be a tough weekend, but we will try to learn.
“We try to push, and we are not giving up. The race is long on Sunday.”
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