Mercedes F1 team hit by major power failure at Bahrain Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli's Bahrain Grand Prix has got off to a miserable start after he reported power issues in FP1 and returned to the garage, unable to complete the session.

The first running of practice on Friday had barely got underway before Antonelli reported that his Mercedes had no power, limping around the track to return to the pitlane.

Antonelli only managed to set a time on the hard tyres, missing crucial running around the circuit where scorching temperature saw the track reach 48 degrees Celsius.

The Italian dropped towards the bottom of the timesheets, where he was unable to set a faster time and obtain vital information about his tyres ahead of Sunday's race.

Antonelli experiences Mercedes power failure

According to Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz, Antonelli's engine had became too hot where he revealed: "Early indications are the engine got too hot. There was a loss of water pressure and the engine has gone into power recovery mode.

"Antonelli is out of the car and repairs are being made. Too early to tell if it's session ending."

Antonelli immediately returned to the garage where he joined race engineer Peter Bonnington to analyse the issue, as the youngster missed out on the crucial opportunity to gather data and a feel for his W16 around the circuit.

The Mercedes team were spotted trying to separate the gearbox from the back of the engine in the garage but were unable to pull the car apart with the mechanics clearly struggling to fix the issue on Antonelli's car.

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