A while ago, we have reported that Mercedes just unveiled its car, the W05. Before that, everyone in the F1 community waited in anticipation to see how it would fare at the Jerez testing. Well, everything was going okay until a case of deja vu struck Lewis Hamilton.
In the middle of the test, at around 1PM (local time), the Mercedes W05 suddenly suffered a front-wing failure which caused it to career out of the track and crash into the barriers. This event is reminiscent to last year’s first day of testing wherein Hamilton was again at the W04’s helm. Previously it was a problem with the brakes.
Notably, the Briton was leading the time sheets when the crash happened.
After a thorough investigation, Mercedes confirmed that the crash at Turn One was caused by a broken front-wing.
The nose-first impact to the barrier caused heavy damage to the car. Fortunately, the 29-year old former champion did not suffer any injuries following the crash and he was able to climb out of the car without any assistance.
Let’s just hope that Nico Rosberg’s testing will be better than his teammate.
Good Thing it Happened Now
Reminiscing what Hamilton stated in his interview last year following his crash at the Jerez testing, it is a good thing that the crash happened now and not in the middle of the season. At least, that would give the engineers of the car enough time to study the problem and minimize the probability of the issue from occurring again.
Photos of the Mercedes W05 Crash During the Testing at Jerez
Here are some photos of the crash which were provided by Sky Sports: