Sebastian Vettel’s 150mph crash in Barcelona testing was caused by a wheel rim issue, say Ferrari

A wheel rim issue caused Sebastian Vettel’s crash in pre-season testing, Ferrari said on Thursday.

The crash at turn three of the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday morning was the first setback for the 2018 runners-up with a new SF90 car that has otherwise looked impressively quick and reliable.

‘After thorough checks we found that Seb’s off yesterday was due to a rim issue,’ a Ferrari spokeswoman said.

Sebastian Vettel’s crash in pre-season testing was caused by a wheel rim issue, say Ferrari

The German driver emerged unscathed after crashing at 150mph on turn three in Barcelona

‘The rim had been damaged a few seconds before by an impact with a foreign object.’

Vettel was taken for a medical examination following the crash but was soon given the all clear.

‘It felt as if there was an issue with the front left corner,’ Vettel, whose Ferrari team have set the pace in Spain, said on Wednesday. 

Vettel’s Ferrari car was winched up and then driven back to the pits for further assessment

‘There was nothing I could have done to avoid the impact. I wasn’t in control any longer and went more or less straight into the barriers. 

‘We are flat out trying to understand what happened. It would be a lot easier if there was a lot of run-off area but there wasn’t and the car is fairly damaged.’

Vettel’s young Monegasque team mate Charles Leclerc was testing the car on Thursday with the four-times world champion German, who was not hurt in Wednesday’s incident, due to return for the final day on Friday.

The season-opening race in Australia is on March 17.  

Team-mate Charles Leclerc was out testing on Thursday with Vettel taking a day out to recover