Apr.1 (GMM) F1’s newest team has denied speculation Fernando Alonso’s crash in Melbourne was caused by a failure aboard the Haas car driven by Esteban Gutierrez.
With the Spaniard having hit Gutierrez at top speed from behind before braking, rumours have indicated the MGU-K system may have malfunctioned, affecting the Mexican’s ability to brake normally.
“Yes, I know there were many rumours but the truth is there was nothing out of the ordinary, no loss of performance,” Gutierrez told the Spanish broadcaster Movistar in Bahrain.
“I’m just happy that no one was seriously injured,” he added, “but the accident was a misjudgement by Fernando, that’s all.”
Haas team boss Gunther Steiner confirmed that Gutierrez had not suffered a failure of any sort.
Gutierrez is sitting in a new chassis for this weekend’s Bahrain grand prix, but he revealed that it was not being struck by Alonso that caused the damage to his original car.
“The suspension and floor were damaged but that could have been repaired,” he said. “Unfortunately the (recovery) crane caused a crack in the chassis, which is not ideal but fortunately we had another.”