Computer Virus Stalls an F1 Team's Car Testing

Technology can be wonderful, but sometimes — like when your Mom finds your Twitter feed — it just creates new problems that were previously unthinkable. The latest case in point: On the first day of the second Formula One preseason test, the Marussia team saw its 2014 car complete only three laps around the track because some witless oaf in the team garage downloaded a “Trojan-type virus” onto its computer system. Whoops.

According to the team’s principal John Booth, the infection “cost us the best part of the day”, and contributed to the team getting only 29 laps of testing in across its four days at the Bahrain International Circuit.

He expressed concern about the team’s readiness for the first race in Australia next month, saying “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried in the slightest.”