The first of three agreed days of Formula 1 preseason in Bahrain went off without a hitch. Even Alex Alban's Williams was not sidelined by technical issues as it was resolved with a double yellow flag. However, at the beginning of the second day The good streak ended: the red came out and the morning session finally adjourned.
With an hour and 48 minutes left in the four-hour morning action, the Banderilleros brought out the dreaded Red. All seven drivers on track had to go to the pits. Cars are not stopping anywhere, the problem is different. And that was just the clue. An attendant approaches the curb at the entrance to Turn 11 and starts pedaling outside. Two minutes later another worker arrived, a little later the security car arrived, and then … and people came to dance.
You can see in the pictures how pieces flew across the track of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton before everything stopped.. Finally, 38 minutes after the red flag, the FIA announced that the session would not be restarted and that the first half of the day was over. An extra hour of operation was added to the afternoon departure (making it five hours instead of four) so as not to harm the teams too much.
The morning session will not resume in Bahrain
Due to curb detachment in year 11, red is final. An extra hour was added in the afternoon for the teams to finish their performances.
Until the red flag, a red car ruled. Lecerc set the best time with his Ferrari: 1m31s750 (He completed 36 laps) and was 578 thousandths ahead of Oscar Piastre (36 laps with his McLaren). Logan Sargent (Williams) was third.
Checo Perez made his first contact with RB20. After Max Verstappen's dominance on day one, the Mexican opted for spin on day two. The man from Guadalajara didn't have a good time as he had brake problems according to Red Bull and missed a good part of the first hour. He completed 20 laps and finished fourth. Meanwhile, Sakir is on his second day It was the start of Hamilton's last preseason with Mercedes. Until the red flag, the Englishman had completed 39 laps and was sixth, 1.475 seconds behind.
In the afternoon, in one hour, the session will resume once the blessed piano is resolved.