Ferrari uncovers cause of Vettel crash

Ferrari has determined that a damaged wheel rim issue caused Sebastian Vettel's heavy crash during day six of testing in Barcelona.

Vettel caused a lengthy delay on Wednesday when he hit the barrier head-on during the morning session. The Maranello squad soon confirmed that a mechanical failure was the cause of the crash, adding that it was investigating the accident to find the root of the cause.

On Thursday morning, Ferrari confirmed that a foreign object came into contact with the wheel rim before the crash, which caused it to fail and send Vettel into the wall.

"After thorough checks we found that Seb’s off yesterday was due to a (wheel) rim issue,” a Ferrari statement read. “The rim had been damaged a few seconds before by an impact with a foreign object.”

Vettel was taken to the medical centre as a precaution but was cleared to leave. The accident hampered Ferrari's day, as it failed to get Charles Lechler out for the afternoon session while it worked on car repairs.