The cause of Narain Karthikeyan’s crash at the Belgian Grand Prix has been revealed – a wheelnut problem stemming from his second pitstop.
The HRT driver went off at Stavelot on his 30th lap, spinning into the barrier causing him to retire from the race.
Talking to Autosport Karthikeyan said, “Something went wrong with the pitstop. The bolt was cross-threaded and then it came off. I was lucky it didn’t come off at Eau Rouge or something like that.
“I didn’t feel it at first, but a few tenths before the accident I felt the front going and it happened too quickly for it to be possible to react. By then, it was already making me spin.”
Karthikeyan has revealed that the crash left him with a slightly knocked foot but this injury won’t cause him any problems at next weekend’s race in Italy.
“It was a big impact and there was a knock to my foot, but it will be fine for Monza,” he said. “What happened is a shame because up to that point we were having a good race.”
