On Friday, the grass on the roadside caught fire twice at the Shanghai track. Unprecedented problems have made life difficult for F1 drivers. The FIA and the organizers of the Chinese GP assume that the fire was started by sparks coming from under the cars.
Katarzyna Łapczyńska
April 19, 2024, 14:16
Press materials / Pirelli Media / In the photo: Daniel Ricciardo, in the circle – grass fire on the track in Shanghai The first Formula 1 training session before the Chinese GP was interrupted with a red flag due to a grass fire that appeared in turn number seven. The roadside in the same section of the track also caught fire during sprint qualifying a few hours later. Due to this, SQ2 started late.
The FIA decided to clarify the situation. The preliminary analysis of the world federation allows us to conclude that the grass fire on the track in Shanghai was caused by sparks coming from under the cars. However, this is only a partial explanation of a rather strange phenomenon. If only because large areas of grass were on fire and the time trial was played in wet conditions. The rain should extinguish any fire buds.
The track in Shanghai was built on swampy land. Therefore, there have been suggestions among the Chinese that methane may be leaking from the ground, which increases the risk of grass catching fire. Another option is to fertilize the grass with chemicals before the Chinese Grand Prix to make it look nicer on TV. These measures may have increased the risk of fire.
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FIA employees inspected the grass at the track in Shanghai. It does not emit any unusual odors. No substances were found in the soil that would explain the fire. Therefore, the world federation intends to look more closely at the problem this weekend to determine its cause.
The world federation and the organizers of the Chinese GP are aware that if the problem with burning grass recurs, qualifying or the race will have to be interrupted. These would be embarrassing images for F1.
The Chinese Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar after a five-year break. The last time the race in Shanghai was held was before the coronavirus pandemic – in the 2019 season. However, the grass had never caught fire at the facility before.
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