Renault has changed the steering rack on Vitaly Petrov's car ahead of final practice at the Belgian Grand Prix after his steering wheel locked in position through some of Spa-Francorchamps fastest corners on Friday.
Petrov completed just 22 laps over the two sessions after spending most his time in the pits while the team tried to solve the problem. After the session he revealed that the steering had become locked in position as he went through the entry to the high-speed Blanchimont.
"We go in the corner and it [the steering] is stuck in the middle of the corner," he said. "You can do no left or no right and I decided to come in [to the pits]. In the wet it was not so bad but it was already a problem that I was complaining about. When it got dry at turn 16 I went flat and the steering wheel got stuck and I was thinking 'f***, I'm going to go into the wall'. Then I lifted and then it moved."
Technical director Alan Permane said the team would change the steering ahead of Saturday's first practice.
"Unfortunately Vitaly reported problems with his power steering, complaining that it felt very heavy," he said. "We investigated this during the session, but were unable to find anything amiss so we decided to keep him out of the car for the rest of the session. As a result, the steering rack and column will be changed before tomorrow's third practice and qualifying sessions."
Petrov said he was happy with the car overall, but warned that the upgrades this weekend would not provide a magic bullet.
"We don't have huge upgrades to win one second like people are thinking," he said. "We have some little upgrades but now it's difficult to feel them. I felt already the floor and at least it's working, which is important."
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