FIA extends afternoon session after hour-long red flag in Bahrain
Red Bull Content Pool
F1 News
The afternoon session of the first test day of winter testing in Bahrain has been extended by one hour. On Wednesday, all the Formula 1 drivers took to the track together for the first time, but due to problems at the Bahrain International Circuit, there was an hour-long red flag. As a result, the F1 and the FIA decided to give the drivers one more hour, extending the session by 60 minutes.
Originally, the first test day was supposed to be until 16:00 GMT, meaning 19:00 local time. However, all the lights around the circuit suddenly went off in the desert, with the floodlights and the garage lights cutting out and plunging everyone into darkness. These problems lasted about one hour, so the governing body decided to continue for an hour. With 50 minutes left on the clock, the Formula 1 drivers finally came back out to continue.
FIA statement
Because of the problems with the lights around the track taking some time, some sixty minutes, the FIA decided to give the drivers an extra hour of testing. The session, which includes Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Isack Hadjar to name a few, was extended to give the afternoon session drivers time to get some laps in.
"Following the power outage during Bahrain Pre-Season Testing, the FIA, Formula 1, and the teams have agreed to extend this afternoon's session by one hour to compensate for the time lost under the red flag. The session will now conclude at 20:00 local time," the FIA reported.
The circuit also made a statement following the problems with the lights: "At approximately 5pm today, a power outage caused by an external substation failure led to the afternoon session on track to be paused. Power has since been restored and the afternoon session has resumed. We appreciate everyone’s patience," the statement read.
This article was created in collaboration with Estéban den Toom
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