Engine trouble cuts short Friday morning running for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel's problematic pre-season continued on the final day of the first pre-season test as his Ferrari sustained an engine issue that brought his morning session to a halt.

Vettel missed the opening day on Wednesday at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya through illness as he was still feeling the effects of a bout of flu from the week before.

That resulted in Ferrari altering its programme to accommodate Charles Leclerc over the first day and a half, with four-time champion Vettel taking over in the cockpit of the SF1000 from Thursday afternoon and throughout Friday.

But after just 94 minutes of the Friday session, Vettel's car stopped at Turn 12, leading to it being returned to the garage on the back of a flat-red truck underneath a Ferrari red cover.

The team revealed Vettel would not return to the track until the afternoon.

A team spokesperson said: "We had to stop due to an engine problem, whose exact cause we will investigate back in Maranello.

"We are now fitting a new engine so we will be back on track in the afternoon."

Vettel had completed 40 laps by the time of his stoppage, with his best being a one minute 18.384secs.

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