A Formula 1 driver suffered a freak injury to his eye during pre-season testing in Bahrain.
A Sauber spokesperson has confirmed to Mirror Sport that “a speck of dust or sand” entered Nico Hulkenberg’s eye towards the end of his four-hour session on Wednesday. As a result, his on-track running was cut short while medical treatment was sought.
Hulkenberg had completed a total of 55 laps in his first Sauber car during that first session in Bahrain, before handing it over to team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto for the Brazilian to get to grips with the racing machine.
Between the two sessions of the day, Hulkenberg had been scheduled to appear in a press conference. However, the German was absent and it has now emerged that the reason was that he needed medical treatment.
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As reported by Sky Germany, it is understood that something flew into Hulkenberg’s eye in the garage while mechanics carried out some grinding work on the car. It meant his session ended earlier than had been planned, and also prompted him to miss his media appearances.
Fortunately for the Sauber driver, the injury was not too serious. The team spokesperson confirmed: “Nico had a minor medical incident [on Wednesday] which caused him not to join the press conference. This incident does not have any influence on [Thursday’s] participation and performance.”
Their experienced new signing was back out on track on Thursday to complete more laps in the C45 ahead of his first season with the team following his switch from fellow midfield outfit Haas.
Hulkenberg and rookie Bortoleto, the Formula 2 champion from last year, form an all-new driver line-up at the Switzerland-based team. The team will be relaunched as the Audi works outfit from 2026, following the German carmaker’s takeover of Sauber.
Their previous drivers, 10-time race winner Valtteri Bottas and China’s first ever F1 driver Zhou Guanyu, were both released with Audi keen to start afresh with their own hires. Finn Bottas has returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver for this season, while Zhou is in a similar role with Ferrari.
Hulkenberg previously raced for Sauber in 2013 and chose to return having been selected by Audi as one of the drivers they wanted to lead the outfit into its new era. Their other top driver target was Carlos Sainz, though they turned to young Brazilian Bortoleto after missing out on the Spaniard who chose instead to sign for Williams.
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