Horror case of Aussie deja vu bites Formula One star

Frenchman Romain Grosjean has failed to finish the Australian Grand Prix for a sixth time in his career.

But the manner of this year’s retirement will cause added frustration for his Haas team.

Grosjean and teammate Kevin Magnussen were both forced out of last year’s race when a wheel came loose on their cars after pit stops.

This time round Magnussen finished but Grosjean was out on lap 31 – with a loose wheel.

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It was a horror case of deja vu for the driver and his team after their debacle in 2018.

“I think Australia doesn’t like me. I love coming here, I love the track,” Grosjean said after the race.

“The pit stop was very, very long. Something broke on the car. I don’t know exactly what but that was it.”

Onboard footage showed the tyre falling off as he pulled up to retire his Haas:

The Frenchman had suffered a slow stop on the 16th lap as that front left refused to lock on.

What made the situation more embarrassing for Haas was team boss Guenther Steiner’s belief that their pit-stop troubles were over.

“Yeah, we are practising. And last year we didn’t have any problems after here,” he told Sky Sports on the grid before the race.

“So we are pretty confident that this will not repeat what happened last year.”