Safety Car brought out at F1 testing after SHOCK red flag

Safety Car, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Pre-Season Testing 2025

Safety Car brought out at F1 testing after SHOCK red flag

F1's testing had a huge delay on Wednesday

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 26 February 2025 16:25 Updated: 18:13

The Formula 1 safety car was called into action on the first day of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, following a huge delay.

All 10 F1 teams took to the track to get some key laps in with their 2025 challengers, as the three-day testing programme got underway on Wednesday.

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However, in the afternoon session, a one-hour delay was caused by an unusual power cut that plunged the Bahrain International Circuit into darkness.

As the session got back underway with less than an hour left on the clock for the 10 afternoon drivers, the safety car was called into action for the first time in 2025, to check that the track was safe for the drivers to complete laps.

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Pre-season testing resumes

The afternoon session was allowed to resume following the safety car track inspection, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen getting his 2025 preparations back underway.

Charles Leclerc was driving the SF-25 in the afternoon, following Lewis Hamilton's first official timed session with his new team in the morning.

Hamilton could only put in a time good enough for fifth in the morning, but teams will not be prioritising times this early on in the testing week.

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