McLaren have revealed that a coating of clear laquer caused his wheel to fail, apparently it prevented the clamp doing it's job properley.

stigga:

McLaren have revealed that a coating of clear laquer caused his wheel to fail, apparently it prevented the clamp doing it's job properley.

Oops, so it wasn't a foreign or alien object then. Does that mean they were lucky Hamilton did not have the same failure, or does it mean that mistakes were made applying the laquer to Kovalianen's car?

stigga:

McLaren have revealed that a coating of clear laquer caused his wheel to fail, apparently it prevented the clamp doing it's job properley.

Its that torch gun incident and a bit of china all over again! When unchecked things like this happen, I would argue one doesnt deserve to win the WCC phhfftt!

justrace:

stigga:

McLaren have revealed that a coating of clear laquer caused his wheel to fail, apparently it prevented the clamp doing it's job properley.

Oops, so it wasn't a foreign or alien object then. Does that mean they were lucky Hamilton did not have the same failure, or does it mean that mistakes were made applying the laquer to Kovalianen's car?

 

This is what McLaren had to say.

 

"It has been established that, owing to a process fault during manufacture, the outer clamp surface of the wheel was given a clear lacquer coating. As a consequence of this fault, the clamp load that attached the wheel was not to specification."

 

"In running, the consequent loss of load caused the wheel to fret and distort, leading to its eventual failure."

 

 

It seems a bit far fetched to me to be honest, but I dont suppose it's beyond the realms of possibility, as far as i'm aware Enkei, the wheel manufacturer hasn't commented yet, but I cant see McLaren shifting the blame onto someone else without being able to back it up.

Thanks, stigga. Let's hope it was a one off mistake. However, reading that a change in procedures has been made does not sound too promising, unless an additional control process was introduced.