F1 fan suffers freak injury during Australian Grand Prix as flying debris from car slices man's arm

A Formula One supporter suffered a freak injury at the recent Australian Grand Prix after a bit of debris flew off one of the cars and into the stands during the final few laps of the race.

Max Verstappen was able to secure his second win of the 2023 season in Melbourne, with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin taking up the remaining spots on the podium.

It was a chaotic race from start to finish with three red flags recorded for the first time in the sport's history and eight drivers failing to finish the race, including the likes of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and Hamilton's teammate George Russell.

The chaos on the track eventually spilled over into the stands when Haas driver Kevin Magnussen ran wide at turn one and dislodged his wheel, causing it to spin off down the track. Shards of carbon fibre from the collision with the wall then flew off into the crowd, eventually slicing the arm of spectator Will Street.

Speaking to Australia's Channel 7, Street commented on the incident by saying: “I'm in a bunch of F1 group chats and the first thing they said Will’s going to be devastated because Kevin’s lost his wheel.

“I was like ‘I think I found it’ because it came screaming over the fence and hit me.”

Speaking after the incident had occurred, Australian Grand Prix promoter Andrew Westacott indicated how strange the accident was, highlighting how it was hopefully just a 'freak one-off'. He said: "We actually coincidentally had one of our engineering staff there who saw it, and anecdotally it would appear that debris carbon fibre from the wheel hub has shot 20 metres or so in the air, shot up, landed down and lacerated a gentleman's arm.

"Our people were aware of the incident. It looks as if out was a freak one-off, because you can't necessarily have these debris fences going 20 metres in the air. The debris fences are consistent in height around the world."