Morning F1 test session ended early after Hamilton and Leclerc hit drain cover

The morning test session on day two of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain was ended early after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both struck a loose drain cover.

Part of the drainage system on the outside of the entry curb at Turn 11 had worked loose, with drivers taking a wide line into that left-hander and utilizing the entry curb to the full. With the drain cover sitting on the side of the curb, Hamilton ran over it with his right-side wheel and part of it came to rest within the white line of the track itself.

Fernando Alonso appeared to be the first driver to spot it as he swerved to avoid the debris at the last moment, catching the eye of Carlos Sainz who was watching trackside at that corner. While the Spaniard informed marshals that a yellow flag was needed to warn drivers, his Ferrari teammate Leclerc then ran over the debris, damaging his floor.

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Once the gap in the drain was then spotted, the session was red flagged and a track inspection took place while repairs were ongoing. The initial red flag came more than an hour and a half before the end of the morning session, but the FIA opted to curtail running early and bring the lunch break forward by an hour, leading to an extended five-hour session being planned from 2:00-7:00pm local time.

Leclerc was fastest at the time of the incident, but Ferrari confirmed the damage to the floor had required the team to change the component.

It is the second such incident in a matter of months for Ferrari, as the team is still in discussions regarding compensation for damage to Sainz’s car sustained when he hit a loose water valve cover during practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last season.