Oscar Piastri found himself in an early-season incident during pre-season testing in Bahrain, colliding with Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber. The Australian McLaren driver was on a hot lap approaching the final hour of the morning session when he encountered Hulkenberg, who was moving slowly around the right-hand hairpin. In a bid to avoid the slower car, Hulkenberg attempted to drive around the outside while Piastri misjudged his braking, resulting in a minor collision where Piastri hit the rear of Hulkenberg’s car. Fortunately, neither vehicle sustained damage, though both drivers returned to the pits for precautionary checks.
Piastri’s performance saw him finish the day in 13th position, trailing the leading time set by Carlos Sainz of Williams by almost 1.5 seconds. This incident followed a peculiar situation where Hulkenberg had missed significant track time the previous day due to an eye injury, resulting from a grinding tool mishap in the pit.
In the broader context of testing, Lewis Hamilton, now with Ferrari, secured the second-fastest time, having briefly held the top spot before Sainz edged him out by a mere 0.031 seconds. Charles Leclerc from Ferrari was third fastest, closely behind Hamilton, while George Russell came in fourth for Mercedes, almost half a second slower than Sainz.
Hamilton expressed his enjoyment of the Ferrari during the testing, stating that he was still building rapport with his engineer and finding comfort in the new car. Team principal Fred Vasseur shared optimism about the team’s progress, particularly regarding reliability concerns that commonly arise at the start of the season.
The testing conditions were further complicated by uncharacteristically cold weather and occasional light rain in Bahrain, with only two teams, Aston Martin and Haas, preparing for wet conditions by bringing rain tyres. Teams are focusing on gathering data on their new cars ahead of the third and final day of testing, which is scheduled for Friday evening. The season-opening Australian Grand Prix is set to take place in Melbourne on March 16, marking the official start of the F1 season.