Sandstorm Ruins 2nd Day of Testing in Bahrain

If it's not a fog interrupting the testing action at Bahrain, it's a sandstorm. After yesterday''s session on the Sakhir circuit was cut due to intense fog, this morning's meeting had to be red-flagged by the circuit officials due to a sandstorm.

Under the weather conditions this morning, the medical helicopter could not have taken off should it was required to during the testing session. As a result, all 3 teams present at the Sakhir circuit – Ferrari, Toyota and BMW Sauber – had to call it a day after barely testing their cars for a combined 60 laps.

After Toyota's Timo Glock had managed to top the timing sheets yesterday, it was now Ferrari's Felipe Massa turn to record the best time of the day, stopping the clock at 1.33.639 after 17 laps on the track. Second placed Robert Kubica ran the most laps of the morning session (22), setting the best time of 1.34.398 in the process. Glock had to settle for 3rd and last place on the timing sheets, highlighting a best time of 1.34.902 through 14 laps.

As announced by Ferrari's official site, there is a high possibility of today's testing session being cancelled all-together. The weather conditions at Sakhir are still very windy, but even if the storm will eventually stop, it would take a a lot of time cleaning the track.

All three teams present at Sakhir for the 8-day testing session this month have selected the circuit because of the bad weather forecasts at Jerez. However, both testing sessions in Bahrain were severely affected by either fog or sandstorm. The teams will have two more days to test their cars this week (Thursday and Friday), with another 4-day testing period to follow next week.