Five Days Later, the Jammed Wheel Nut Has Finally Been Removed From Bottas' F1 Car

The riveting saga of the stripped wheel nut on Valtteri Bottas' Formula 1 car has finally come to an end. The Mercedes-AMG F1 team published video today on Instagram of the team finally removing the jammed nut holding the wheel onto the No. 77 car's right front corner.

The nut became jammed during Bottas' pitstop at last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix after the wheel gun was mounted by one of the pit crew workers "at a slight angle," per Motorsport.com, forcing the Finnish driver to retire 30 laps in. When the team attempted to remove the wheel, the gun stripped the nut's teeth, effectively rounding out the piece and making it impossible to remove in pit lane. The nut was so jammed, the Mercedes pit crew failed to get it off in the garage, electing to transport the car back to its U.K. factory and use heavy-duty machinery to break it loose instead.