Loose Drain Cover Stops F1 Testing for 2nd Day in a Row

Formula One F1 - Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - February 23, 2024 Members of the Bahrain International Circuit emergency maintenance team prepare the race track REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Formula One F1 - Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - February 23, 2024 Members of the Bahrain International Circuit emergency maintenance team prepare the race track REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
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Loose Drain Cover Stops F1 Testing for 2nd Day in a Row

Formula One F1 - Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - February 23, 2024 Members of the Bahrain International Circuit emergency maintenance team prepare the race track REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Formula One F1 - Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - February 23, 2024 Members of the Bahrain International Circuit emergency maintenance team prepare the race track REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

A loose drain cover at the side of the track caused a long delay to Formula 1 preseason testing for the second day in a row Friday.
The cover flew up when Red Bull's Sergio Perez drove over a curb, causing a red-flag stoppage to the morning session after just half an hour amid repairs and an inspection of the area.
“Another day, another drain,” Red Bull wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as the team checked Perez's car for possible damage to the floor.
It was in the same part of the track where another loose cover caused disruption the day before. Thursday’s incident left debris scattered across the track and caused similar delays after two cars ran over the loose cover.
Drains have been a persistent problem for F1 in recent years, though typically on street circuits, not permanent racing venues like Bahrain.
Carlos Sainz Jr.'s Ferrari was badly damaged by a water valve cover in practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November and George Russell's Williams car was wrecked in 2019 when it hit a drain cover in practice in Azerbaijan.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”