The morning session of the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing came to an abrupt halt with a red flag. The first issues arise in the Bahrain tests, involving Ferrari and Mercedes with potential damage.
The teams’ plans were disrupted by this sudden interruption. After two hours and thirty minutes of activity, track marshals were forced to display a red flag to assess the integrity of a curb in turn 11. The first inconveniences and potential damages for Ferrari and Mercedes, engaged in an extensive long run with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton during the morning session at the Sakhir circuit.
About half an hour ago, the first red flag interruption of these pre-season tests for 2024 occurred. The marshals at turn 11 noticed damage to the outer curb. A few laps earlier, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s cars passed over this point on the track, causing the lifting of what is a “drain cover” from the outer curb. This is a cover for the external drainage channel of the curb. These parts may have been “unstuck” by the passage of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton‘s cars.
At that point, the cars pass at over 100 km/h, and with the “draft” generated by the underbody, some incorrectly secured components can be lifted. The dynamics are still to be defined, but observing the track images, it seems that the Ferrari driver may have lifted this component slightly. Immediately after the Monegasque’s passage, Lewis Hamilton could have significantly moved this cover, bringing it onto the track.
Shortly after, on the following lap, Charles Leclerc hit this component in the left Venturi channel. Almost certainly, the Monegasque felt an impact and notified the team of possible damage to the underbody. Upon returning to the pits, the Maranello team sealed the garage to proceed with the underbody inspection, one of the sensitive parts of the SF-24. The Mercedes W15 of Lewis Hamilton was also involved, as he returned to the pits to check the car’s underbody.
Source: f1ingenerale
Leave a Reply