Although there have been similar instances over the years at various tracks, the current generation of high downforce ground effect cars appear to be more likely to trigger problems when they run over covers due to the forces involved.
Testing in Bahrain was stopped on both Thursday and Friday due to drain covers coming loose in their concrete bases, fortunately without causing serious damage to cars.
The incidents came just a few months after Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was badly damaged by a dislodged water valve cover early in FP1 at the Las Vegas GP, delaying practice for several hours while a solution was sought.
The Bahrain organisers intend to address the problem before next week’s Grand Prix. Filling in drains with concrete as a temporary measure is among the options being explored.
However, drivers have expressed concerned about a possible repeat at other venues.
“For sure, with the ground effect cars, probably it's a little bit worse,” said world champion Verstappen when asked about the problem by Autosport.
“But also it seems like we are driving in places that not a lot of other cars are going, in terms of opening up corners and stuff. But maybe these kinds of things can be checked a bit more.
“We know that this is a potential problem with these cars, and when you go to certain tracks, you know where the drain covers are.
Source: Autosport