Bahrain power outage cause revealed after F1 testing halted

Henry Valantine 26 Feb 2025 2:37 PM

Night at Bahrain F1 circuit.

A power cut in the region around the Bahrain International Circuit halted F1 testing running, with the drivers forced back into the pit lane in the process.

With night beginning to fall at the circuit, floodlights and lights in the pit lane were seen going out around the circuit, which prompted the red flag – with a 65-minute pause to running before the session was back underway again.

‘External substantiation failure’ halts F1 testing with red flag stoppage

The afternoon session in Bahrain sees running take place from daylight until the floodlights take over, and while the lights had come on initially, they went out at the circuit and in the garages, with it later being clarified that it was a regional power cut, rather than simply at the circuit itself.

The clock carried on ticking for 30 minutes before the electricity in the garages came back on, with the floodlights following soon afterwards as power began to be restored.

After an hour-long stoppage, running looked set to restart with just under an hour left in the day for the drivers to log as many laps of possible on the first day of testing, with the floodlights around the circuit coming back on at different times.

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Mercedes’ George Russell said of the power cut: “I came to the pits and said ‘it’s dark out here, I need to change my visor!’ Then I realised there are no floodlights around.

“It would have been hectic if this was an hour later and the sun had already set.”

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc sat top of the timesheets prior to the session being stopped, with testing resuming with 50 minutes of the day remaining.

A statement from the Bahrain International Circuit following the stoppage said: “At approximately 5pm today, a power outage caused by an external substation failure led to the afternoon session on track to be paused.

“Power has since been restored and the afternoon session has resumed. We appreciate everyone’s patience.”