Mercedes investigating lost wheel on Schu anniversary

Mercedes is investigating how a rear wheel fell off Michael Schumacher’s car during qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.

Wearing a special golden helmet to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his F1 debut, the famous German will start the race last because he crashed during his outlap in Q1.

"How embarrassing for Mercedes, to destroy his anniversary race because the wheel fell off," Sky commentator Marc Surer is quoted as saying by Bild newspaper.

20 years ago, Schumacher’s first-ever F1 race ended within half a kilometre because the clutch in his Jordan failed.

And in 2011? "We’ve looked at the data. It happened suddenly, within a second," Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said.

"We are still looking into it. There is a locking mechanism and we had a few problems last year but not with the new system this year.

"We have developed the system with our DTM team. There must be an explanation and I’m sure we will find it."