Williams has been forced to call a premature end to its running on the second day of Formula 1’s Bahrain pre-season test as a result of Nicholas Latifi’s firey stoppage in the morning.
After just 12 laps of running in the morning, Latifi’s rear brakes began to catch fire as he exited the opening turn.
With smoke billowing from the back of his Williams, he eventually spun off at the Turn 9/10 double left-hander.
Fire and smoke poured out of the car until the marshals – assisted by Latifi – extinguished the fire.
His car was returned to the pits and while the team initially hoped it could repair the damage and return to the track in the afternoon, the team released a statement with two hours of the afternoon session left confirming its day was done.
Repairs are underway on the FW44. We will not take part in the remainder of today’s running but look forward to hitting the track for the final day of testing here tomorrow 🙌 pic.twitter.com/T3eTjUHJ67
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) March 11, 2022
Latifi was the slowest of the 10 drivers to set a lap in the morning session but was really unable to undertake a proper flying lap before the incident.
Williams’ new signing Alex Albon was providing commentary for F1TV’s coverage of testing as his team-mate’s car caught fire.
It follows a successful Barcelona test and a productive opening day in Bahrain where Albon logged 104 laps.
Latifi and Albon are currently scheduled to split the driving on the final day of testing tomorrow.
