Formula 1 got underway in Bahrain with the official start of preseason testing, and Franco Colapinto had an up-and-down day in his debut with the A526. The Argentine driver caused the first red flag of the day after suffering a mechanical failure that left him stopped on track and forced activity to be halted for several minutes.
An hour and a half after testing began at the Sakhir circuit, the Buenos Aires native's car stopped at the entry to the hairpin at Turn 8. He tried to restart the single-seater, but when he could not do so, he had to be assisted by a crane that took him back to the pits. According to the Motorsport website, the issue was related to the engine.
Alpine worked for approximately an hour to inspect the car and complete the planned program for the morning session. After the mechanics' intervention, Colapinto went back out on track, this time on medium-compound tires, since before the problem he had been running on hards.
As for lap times, the Argentine had initially set a 1:41.600, a time that placed him last among the eleven drivers on track. Later he improved to 1:40.330, although he did not manage to gain positions and he finished as the driver who completed the fewest laps, with 28 laps and 151 kilometers (93.83 miles) covered.
