24/02/2024
NEWS STORY
This morning's test session at the Bahrain International Circuit was stopped early as a result of track damage.
The afternoon session will begin an hour earlier than originally scheduled but still finish at 19:00 (local time) thereby giving the drivers 5 hours in addition to this morning's 3.
The session was stopped 22 minutes into the third hour initially due to what was thought to be debris on the track. However, shortly after it was announced that there would be a track inspection.
Replays showed Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both running over the same piece of kerbing and throwing up debris, and when the Ferrari returned to its garage the screen went up suggesting that there was potential damage to the floor. However this probed not to be the case... the Italian team still unhappy after the drain debacle in Las Vegas.
As officials checked the kerbing around the circuit, Race Control decided to bring the lunch break forward by an hour. However, it is not known how this will affect the teams' driver schedules.
Up until the stoppage it had been a largely uneventful morning, other than for a brake issue which compromised Sergio Perez's running.
Yuki Tsunoda complained about the wind going "up and down" and indeed a number of drivers appeared to be caught out, not least Logan Sargeant, while Lewis Hamilton had a major wobble in Turn 7.
The stoppage is frustrating for all, but at least the teams should get the full number of hours they need, while all will be happy that the issue has been resolved as spares are scarce at this point - particularly floors - and with the opening race just days away...
Between them the ten drivers completed 333 laps, with Perez, who like Hamilton is on duty all day, completing the least (20) and Tsunoda the most (40).
Morning Times - All Times Unofficial
| Name | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| Leclerc | Ferrari | 36 | 1:31.750 | 131.952 mph |
| Piastri | McLaren | 35 | 1:32.328 | 0.578 |
| Sargeant | Williams | 30 | 1:32.578 | 0.828 |
| Perez | Red Bull | 20 | 1:32.879 | 1.129 |
| Alonso | Aston Martin | 31 | 1:33.053 | 1.303 |
| Hamilton | Perez | 39 | 1:33.225 | 1.475 |
| Zhou | Stake | 38 | 1:33.715 | 1.965 |
| Gasly | Alpine | 33 | 1:33.804 | 2.054 |
| Hulkenberg | Haas | 31 | 1:37.509 | 5.759 |
| Tsunoda | RB | 40 | 1:38.074 | 6.324 |
Check out our Thursday gallery from Bahrain, here.