Ferrari suffered a hub carrier failure
After the stoppage in the final minutes of the day's private testing session in Barcelona involving the F138 driven by Felipe Massa, following the sudden loss of the front-left wheel, Ferrari announced that the incident was caused by a hub failure, a central component that holds all the elements of a wheel in position.
Not rich in terms of red flags, this Saturday’s private test day still claimed a notable victim in its last minutes. Felipe Massa was indeed forced to stop his Ferrari in turn 10 after suddenly losing his left front wheel at high speed on the previous straight. The images—see the video below—show what appears to be an explosion after which the wheel indeed detaches from its housing before coming to a stop at the end of the straight, fortunately without hitting anyone. The Brazilian is also unharmed and can be thankful that the incident occurred on a straight rather than in a full curve.
If one could then, in view of the video and the unfolding of events, suspect among other things a wheel nut failure or a brake disc explosion, it is not the case, according to Ferrari: « A problem with the front-left hub carrier meant that Felipe had to stop the car on the track, thus bringing a positive day to a slightly premature end. »
The hub carrier is a crucial part of a half-undercarriage. It is a metal piece that, as its name suggests, carries the hub, the part with which the wheel nut sandwiches the rim of the tire and therefore rotates together with the wheel around the hub carrier. Additionally, peripheral elements of the wheel are attached to the hub carrier, such as the braking system, and in the case of front wheels, the steering rod and the wheel axle that allow it to pivot.
It’s still too early to know if this failure will have any impact on Sunday’s test day, the last one before the Australian Grand Prix, as Ferrari has not yet completed its investigation into the incident. However, the central nature of this part is still a worrying factor so close to Melbourne. Let’s recall that last year, Lotus had to forgo several test days after discovering a weakness in its chassis at the mounting points of the front suspension arms, but the problem occurred on the first test day in Barcelona, more than a month before the start of the season, and it could be rectified for the second test session in Catalonia.
