Wheel Nuts' Designs Blamed for Hamilton's and Vettel's Problems in Spain

2010 wheel nut and hub designs are to blame for recent failures in Formula 1 cars, according to German magazine Auto Motor und Sport. The journalists claim that technical solutions adopted in order to speed up pistops this year are related to the most recent failures on the Red Bull and McLaren F1 cars in Barcelona.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh revealed this week that a failure of the wheel rim due to "human error" caused the McLaren's front tire to deflate and the car to subsequently crash on the penultimate lap. Auto Motor und Sport claims that the incident was caused by a mechanic who had pulled his gun off the wheel too soon during the pitstop.

Whitmarsh confirmed that the nut subsequently "loosened slightly". "The magnesium part heated up and eventually broke," added the Briton. When his tire deflated, Lewis Hamilton was on second place with two laps left before the end of the race.

As for Red Bull's Vettel, the German finished the race at the Circuit de Catalunya third, but without being able to use the brakes in the last dozen laps. Auto Motor und Sport said the left front brake disc of the Red Bull was longitudinally broken, with the Austrian team reportedly believing vibrations caused the failure.

The magazine speculated that the vibrations could have been caused by a wheel nut not fitted tightly enough at the pitstop. According to Auto Motor und Sport, the same problem caused Vettel to retire in Melbourne and was also the cause of Michael Schumacher’s DNF in Malaysia.