At Sakhir International Circuit, pre-season testing was halted on Thursday, leaving drivers and teams frustrated.
Pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit was halted on Thursday morning after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc collided and knocked over a section of the kerb.
Under the Turn 11 curve, a loose drain cover was the main source of the problem. Leclerc’s Ferrari’s floor was damaged when he drove straight over the cover.
Hamilton then went over this drain cover once more, but this time he only put a wheel over the loose kerb and not the underbody of his Mercedes W15, sparing more serious damage.
The stewards decided to raise the red flag after the morning session had lasted for just over two hours, but after more than thirty minutes in those circumstances, it was decided to end it early.
This was a highly undesirable development, with each driver on the grid receiving just 12 hours of track time over the course of the three days of the pre-season test. Nevertheless, the FIA chose to add an hour to the afternoon session in order to make up for some of the time lost due to the red flag.
Although Hamilton may have sustained some injuries from the drain cover incident, the Mercedes driver finished the second-most laps (39) of all drivers in the field during the morning, with Yuki Tsunoda of VCARB finishing more with 40.
Nine out of ten drivers finished the morning session with more laps than the 30-lap mark, led by Leclerc who finished with 36. Sergio Perez was the true loser of Thursday’s opening race, having completed just twenty laps around the Sakhir International Circuit.
Before he could finally enjoy his first on-track run of the week, the Mexican had to spend the most of the first hour of the session in the garage due to a brake disc fire that occurred early in the session.
Max Verstappen was given the entire first day in Bahrain by Red Bull to rest his legs. The world champion finished 142 laps and set a fastest time that was more than 1.1 seconds quicker than nearest competitor Lando Norris.
After a great RB20 opening session on Wednesday, the Milton Keynes team will be hoping that their struggles on day two do not derail them.
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