Interruption of F1 winter testing due to a general power outage in Bahrain
The first day of testing before the new F1 season was plunged into darkness after the session was interrupted due to a power outage in Bahrain.
A nationwide power outage occurred at 3 p.m. this afternoon in Bahrain. The red flag was deployed. The entire paddock was at a standstill for nearly an hour.
Surprising images of garages and teams plunged into darkness, as the drivers, including Ferrari’s new star Lewis Hamilton, were forced to leave the track. The track’s floodlights also went out.
The power was restored to certain parts of the circuit after about 45 minutes in the dark. This strange power outage forced the teams to work by the light of torches in their garages.
The session will therefore be extended by one hour for teams wishing to do so and will end at 6 PM (Paris time).
Mercedes joked about the power outage by posting an image on the social network Thread of a black screen and writing: « Live scenes in Bahrain. »
The members of Mercedes had reason to rejoice as the new recruit Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time during the first practice session, 1:31.8, which is 0.406 seconds faster than his predecessor Lewis Hamilton, who is making his debut at Ferrari.
To make up for the lost time for the teams this afternoon, the session has been extended by one hour. It is now scheduled to end at 8 PM local time, instead of the initial 7 PM.
