Fernando Alonso Reacts to the Steering Wheel Coming Off his Aston Martin at the Bahrain GP

During Free Practice 2 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso had the steering wheel seem to come off his car.

Alonso's car was still moving forward when it came off; luckily, it was headed in the same direction as a run-off area, so he did not crash or damage the car and was able to bring it into the garage.

He did lose significant running time, which could affect his performance this weekend, especially when Brazilian Felipe Drugovich drove Alonso's car during Free Practice 1.

After the end of the session, Alonso explained what exactly happened with his Aston.

"Yeah, the car was not working and I could not shift gears at one point," he said to media.

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"I had the dash off so I could not communicate with the team either and in the last corner the wheel was off so we realized that maybe the steering column or the wheel or something had a problem."

We had a steering wheel issue on Fernando’s car which we are looking to resolve in the garage.

Upon further investigation, we’re changing parts of the steering system on Fernando’s car.#BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/Pd0QxLawGT
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 11, 2025

"The mechanics quickly changed the parts, and everything was fine, so yeah, a moment there, but thanks to everyone in the garage to fix it quite fast."

Alonso aims to secure his first points of the season, as his teammate Lance Stroll has earned all the points for the team thus far.

The Spaniard's lackluster performances are part of the reason why Aston is only P7 in the constructors' championship.

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The car has shown some performance as well, with Stroll managing to achieve some decent finishes. However, Alonso struggled to complete the race in China and Australia, and narrowly missed out on points in Japan.

Alonso and Stroll, though, are not anticipating a good weekend in Bahrain.

Friday wrapped up in the desert. 🏜️ #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/4S5srPsKwQ
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 11, 2025

"Yeah I think it's going to be a tough weekend, you know unfortunately we seem not to have the pace before coming here," he said.

"The characteristics of Bahrain was a little bit of a concern for us for our package and yeah probably we confirmed it today that we are not competitive."

"It's going to be a tough weekend, but we will try to learn, we will try to push and we are not giving up, you know the race is long on Sunday."

With Aston Martin focusing several resources on the 2026 car, the team may not receive significant upgrades, leaving the drivers to do their best to maximize performance from the car.