F1 Bahrain: Red Flag As Alpine Sheds Chunks Of Sidepod

Practice in Bahrain begins but as only 13 cars make it onto the track, Esteban Ocon loses a chunk of sidepod from his bright pink Alpine after only 13 minutes of the practice session.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Esteban Ocon loses a big chunk of sidepod 🤯

The debris litters the start-finish straight, so the session is paused as clean-up begins#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZHWKqIIZzr

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 18, 2022

“Esteban Ocon loses a big chunk of sidepod The debris litters the start-finish straight, so the session is paused as clean-up begins.”

The session has been paused as the pit lane is cleared of debris and while Nico Hulkenberg was showered with carbon fibre behind him, no injuries are reported.

After 13 minutes of practice, Lando Norris posts the fastest lap time in his McLaren:

1. NOR
2. RIC
3. PER
4. VER
5. GAS
6. HAM
7. RUS
8. SAI
9. TSU
10. HUL
11. STR
12. ZHO
13. LEC

With so much debris spread across the track, this leaves only 40 minutes of the session, so it’s going to be a packed track when it resumes.

UPDATE

Session has now resumed under green flag.