Aston Martin under investigation: here’s why Fernando Alonso had the steering wheel in his hands!. Steering Wheel Scare: FIA Probes Aston Martin Over Alonso Incident.

The FIA has launched an investigation and Aston Martin is being asked to provide clarification on what happened yesterday to Fernando Alonso during the second free practice session. Seeing the Spanish driver with the steering wheel in his hands while still moving—albeit at low speed—inevitably brought to mind Ayrton Senna and the broken column of his Williams FW16 during the 1994 San Marino GP.

Fortunately, the chilling images were met with a rational explanation: the column didn’t break, and in fact, Fernando, after going long into the escape road to avoid further trouble, managed to return to the pits, where Aston Martin’s mechanics fixed the issue before sending him back out to complete the second session. The Asturian was furious about what happened and didn’t hide it…

In front of the garage, the Silverstone team members had erected the usual “wall” to prevent anyone in the pit lane from seeing what the green-clad mechanics were working on.

There are two versions of the incident: some claim that the AMR25’s steering wheel-computer wasn’t properly locked into place within the ball-and-spring mechanism, so Fernando Alonso immediately sensed something was wrong because the grip wasn’t its usual perfect state. Therefore, Fernando might have attempted an impromptu reattachment.

Others claim that the Iberian suddenly saw the digital display in the center of the wheel go dark, and, left without any information, wisely decided to slow down while staying off the racing line, to briefly remove the steering wheel and then reinsert it, hoping the lost connection would be restored—avoiding a trip to the pits that would have cost him time with an unscheduled stop.

Aston Martin will need to present a detailed report to the FIA technical stewards because whatever the cause of the issue, it created a potentially dangerous situation: serious if the wheel wasn’t properly coupled to the steering column’s bayonet, but equally serious if Fernando attempted an electronics reset by removing the wheel, as he then struggled to get it back in place.