Terrifying moment F1 star’s steering wheel falls off during Bahrain Grand Prix

Formula 1 icon Fernando Alonso had a scary moment during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix when his steering wheel fell off his Aston Martin mid-lap.

Following Max Verstappen’s victory in Japan, F1 heads to the Bahrain International Circuit where Lando Norris is favourite to triumph.

Several drivers, including Verstappen and George Russell, begin the weekend on the back foot after missing first practice on Friday.

But it was in the second practice session where things got very nervy for one driver, as Alonso briefly found himself on track, behind-the-wheel of his Aston Martin… except there was no wheel.

While driving down the long-straight prior to the last corner and pits, the two-time world champion began to slow down and complained of an issue with his steering wheel on the team radio.

‘Change the steering wheel. There’s a problem with the steering wheel. It’s switching off,’ he told his engineer, who replied: ‘We see the same.’

The onboard camera clearly showed the lights and screen on the steering wheel flashing on and off, but worse was to come as Alonso attempted to turn as the wheel came clean off.

The terrifying moment caught the veteran Spaniard off guard, as his Aston Martin AMR25 went straight on at the last corner but thankfully he was able to slot the wheel back in place and limp back to the pits.

There, the steering wheel was replaced and Alonso’s session continued without incident, though Aston Martin remain off the pace with the 43-year-old finishing practice 1.3 seconds slower than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

McLaren certainly look like the team to beat in Bahrain, with Sunday’s race set to begin at 4pm UK time.

‘It’s big [the gap to McLaren],’ Red Bull star Verstappen told Sky Sports.

‘We did a bit of a different approach to our Friday so I think this gap is very big. Just difficult. Of course, took one lap, two laps to get into it but still the gap was quite massive, so not entirely happy. 

‘Just struggling a lot with grip, the feeling in general. The balance wasn’t too bad but just off and quite a bit of work to do, also in the long run. 

‘We’re just too slow, basically, very lap and honestly it was not a lot of fun out there in the long run. A bit of drift practice at the end there as well!’

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