Highlights
Damaged wheel nut caused Alonso's Hungary failure
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-08 15:08
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LONDON, Aug 7?- Renault say a damaged wheel nut caused Fernando Alonso's retirement while he was leading Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Formula One champion's failure to finish, his first in more than a year, left the title battle finely balanced with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher 10 points adrift with five races remaining.
Engineering head Pat Symonds said in a team review of the weekend's action that a safety mechanism holding the wheel nut on had failed to disengage at Alonso's second pitstop.
"That meant the wheel nut was damaged as it was removed, and did not re-attach correctly as the new wheel went on.
"The reassuring fact is that this is a simple problem to fix, and doesn't put the exceptional reliability of the R26 in any doubt. We will have a modified solution in place for Turkey," he said.
The Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul is on Aug 27.