Victim of F1's weirdest ever crash announces racing retirement

Toro Rosso F1 driver Sebastien Buemi at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Victim of F1's weirdest ever crash announces racing retirement

We wish him all the best in his new role!

Chris Deeley

Thursday 13 August 2026 18:43

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Former F1 driver Sebastien Buemi will retire from Formula E at the end of the current season.

The Swiss driver has competed in all 12 seasons of the electric racing series since its foundation in 2014, becoming its second ever champion in the summer of 2016.

However, the 37-year-old might be better known to some F1 fans for being the victim of one of the most bizarre crashes in the series' 75+ year history.

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The incident occurred in practice at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, the second-year Toro Rosso driver hitting the brakes to decelerate for the low-speed hairpin near the end of the lap when he suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure, resulting in both of his front wheels detaching from the car at nearly 200mph.

Buemi's onboard camera showed him still frantically sawing at the steering wheel to try and keep his car out of the barriers – an effort which was unsurprisingly in vain, since the wheels to which he was trying to deliver steering input had already taken a leave of absence from his vehicle. Thankfully he walked away unhurt.

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The Swiss' exit from FE as a driver was announced on Thursday, with his Envision Racing team principal Sylvain Filippi revealing that Buemi will continue to be part of the team 'in an advisory and development capacity'.

"This has been a difficult decision," Filippi wrote, "particularly given the contribution both Seb and Joel have made to our team.

“As we look ahead to Gen4 and an increasingly demanding Formula E calendar, we are entering an important period of development for the team. Seb’s experience will remain valuable to us, and we are pleased that he will continue to support Envision Racing in an advisory and development capacity.

“We are grateful to both drivers for everything they have given to Envision Racing and look forward to ending the Gen3 era on a high in London.”

Buemi's long-time rival Lucas di Grassi posted a short tribute to his career on social media (which the Envision man re-posted to his own page), which read: "Legend and great competitor that pushed me beyond my limits and shaped the beginning of the history of Formula E!"

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