Bahrain drains to be filled in with concrete for F1 2024’s first race

The three-day test at the Sakhir International Circuit has been stopped twice due to the drain cover on the approach to the track’s Turn 11 coming loose.

This is due to the powerful underfloor aerodynamics of the new ground-effect machines straining drains and their concrete surrounds as the cars pass over them at certain points.

At this particular point of the Bahrain track, the racing line the drivers are using involves swinging right for the left-hand corner so they can widen the angle and carry more speed in, while also reducing stress on their tyres at this high-energy venue and its tyre-heating abrasive surface.

This line brings them nearly fully onto the Turn 11 approach kerbs, running over the drains before the drivers finally sweep in to complete the penultimate corner of the middle sector.

Towards the end of the first session on the test’s second day, the drain cover lifted so much it was struck by Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was following his soon-to-be Ferrari team-mate.

After the completion of repairs initially overseen by FIA F1 race director Niels Wittich that eventually led to a 90-minute delay, the second day restarted with a second session that began an hour earlier than planned so the lost time could be regained by the teams.

Then on day three on Friday, after just 27 minutes of the opening session, the Turn 11 drain was again sucked loose when Red Bull’s Sergio Perez traversed the approach kerbs.

This led to a similar one hour, 15-minute delay before the final day of pre-season action resumed with a new timetable to keep the cars circulating without a planned break until the expected 7pm cutoff.

The drain issues have caused the only real red flag stoppages of the test, with the third such interruption at the end of day two a planned check of the various timing systems deployed by F1 and the FIA.

But with F1 set to stay in Bahrain for 2024’s first race next week, the issue of the drains possibly interrupting the season’s first meaningful action is a major concern for all of the championship’s stakeholders.

F1 is just three months on from its Las Vegas return beginning in shambolic and – for Ferrari, after Carlos Sainz’s 2023 car was had much of its chassis and engine destroyed in the incident – costly circumstances when concrete reattaining a water…