Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse for Aston Martin, they have suffered an unusual breakdown in Formula 1. Fernando Alonso‘s steering wheel came off during the first Free Practice 2 session of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix. The driver was left holding the steering wheel, which had come loose from the steering column, but he managed to slide it back into place and return to the pits.
Fernando Alonso loses the steering wheel
Fernando Alonso had only been out for one lap in free practice 2 of the Bahrain Grand Prix, his first laps of the weekend as he had not driven in free practice 1 (Felipe Drugovich took his place during the first free practice session of the weekend), and things could not have got off to a worse start for the Spaniard. After watching the replay, you can see Fernando Alonso with the steering wheel off and how he pulls it to turn, when he is left with the steering wheel in his hand, loose from the steering. This is something very serious and dangerous, never seen before in an F1 race, and could mean a penalty for Aston Martin. The driver himself was able to replace the steering wheel, a complicated manoeuvre to do with the car moving, as there is only one way to fit it and it has to be done very precisely, and he managed to return to the pits to proceed to fix the problem.
Fernando himself, aware of the danger of such a breakdown, limited himself to warning by radio with a brief “we have to change the steering wheel”. At no point did he say what he had felt or what could have happened to cause the breakdown.
Fernando Alonso’s steering wheel has come off 👀
The Spaniard is back in the pits now as Aston Martin investigate the issue #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/fV1INSJYM4
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 11, 2025
Aston Martin blocks the television cameras
Once Alonso was in the pits, he had to get out of the car so that the mechanics could dismantle the steering of the AMR25 and fix a serious and unusual breakdown. Meanwhile, the rest of the mechanics put a barrier in front of the garage so that the media couldn’t see what was happening, and they turned off the driver’s camera located on the top of the car, above the helmet, so that nothing could be seen of the never-before-seen breakdown.
Given the seriousness of the matter, the race director himself went to the Aston Martin pit to find out what the problem was first hand.
Alonso back on track
Fortunately for Fernando Alonso, it was all a scare and it happened at the start of the session. Half an hour into Free Practice 2, the Spanish driver got back in the car to start his first practice session of the day. He only has half an hour on Friday, so we’ll see how he can adapt to the car in such a short time.
This Aston Martin breakdown, never seen before in Formula 1, highlights a team that seems to have a string of bad luck. After a Japanese GP where the AMR25 was the worst car, they arrived in Bahrain eager to take a step forward, but Fernando Alonso’s start is one too many for a team that has had nothing go right.
We will see if the rest of the weekend passes without incident for an Aston Martin that needs to improve and manages to get into the points. Hopes are pinned on Fernando Alonso. It is important that they give him a car in good condition, and if they don’t, at least that he has a steering wheel, it’s the least he needs to be able to drive a car.