Mercedes mechanics had to use tape as a quick fix for Lewis Hamilton's car after a piece of the floor flew off during Friday morning's pre-season testing session.
The first of the three days went off without a hitch for Mercedes. Team boss Toto Wolff was even speaking very positively about their new car's performance, suggesting it might be good enough to propel Hamilton and George Russell into the title fight this year.
He might have been slightly worried, though, to see a piece of the floor of the W14 fly off during the morning session on day two. Hamilton was behind the wheel at the time, as TV cameras spotted the piece fall off the car and come to rest in the middle of the track.
Pit lane reporter Sam Collins stopped by the Mercedes garage after Hamilton had returned to the pits to assess the damage. Collins said: "The Mercedes team saws that footage as well and they've brought the car back into the garage.
"Mercedes mechanics have pored over the car, they've found the damage and they're making the repair underneath the rear floor of the bodywork. The engineers are also changing some of the cooling louvres along the sidepod, where you see that Petronas logo.
"So I'm not sure it was just a single part that came off the car, I think it might have been multiple bits that came off. They saw it, dived in with their torches and had a good look underneath the body work and went 'ah yes, we've found it'. It's probably quite a big bit that's gone missing.
"Now they're trying to make that fix and it looks like quite a long process. Lewis Hamilton is still in the car but they've jacked it right up to the ceiling so the team can get underneath it, and there are some bottles and rags on the floor which can indicate a fluid leak, though I don't see any fluid on the floor at the moment.
"As the action goes on out on track, there's still a lot of action in the Mercedes garage and there is a lot of tape being applied around the floor. So far from a routine change for the Mercedes team, and a little bit of a lengthy repair for this point in testing. It's going to set their programme back a little bit."
Fortunately for Hamilton, he was able to get back back on track quickly enough and completed 72 laps over the course of the session. Only Logan Sargeant, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda managed more in that morning session, while Russell will settle into the seat of the W14 for the afternoon.
