The first day of action on the track in Shanghai perhaps held even more surprises than expected, given not only the arrival of the rain, but also two particular similar episodes that occurred both during the first free practice session and during Sprint Qualifying.
In fact, in both sessions at one point the grass on the inside of turn seven suddenly caught fire, requiring the marshals to intervene with fire extinguishers. In FP1 it was necessary to display the red flag, while in qualifying, fortunately, the episode occurred at the end of SQ1, with minimal impact, except for a slight postponement of the start of the second heat.
The FIA is still looking for a definitive answer on the causes of these accidents, especially considering that it has rained heavily in recent days. Even before the start of qualifying on Friday, a few drops of rain fell and wet the grass.
The marshals put out the fire on the grass
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
After the first problem, the FIA visited the area before qualifying to try to understand exactly what had caused the fire. The most accepted explanation is that, as there was a slight bump in that area of the track, the sparks caused by the cars rubbing with the asphalt then ended up on the grass, starting the fire.
However, this is only a partial explanation, because we didn't expect to run into such big problems, especially considering that the ground was still damp from the rain that fell in the last few hours, with the track completely wet on Wednesday afternoon.
Various theories have emerged as to what may have amplified the effect, such as a chemical reaction generated by the gas penetrated from underground or, even more likely, that the grass was treated with some chemical agent to improve its appearance. It must not be forgotten that, in fact, except for some local competitions, the track remained essentially disused for years, which pushed the organizers of the GP to carry out maintenance work, such as those carried out on the asphalt, on which it was poured a layer of bitumen but without completely reasphalting it.
The marshals put out the fire on the grass
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
However, the FIA's initial inspections on Friday did not shed much light on the situation. Given that it was not an isolated case as it was also repeated in qualifying, the governing body wants to see clearly on the issue and find the real cause. The fear, in fact, is that it could also happen again during the sprint race or race: in that case it would be necessary to neutralize the race either with the entry of the Safety Car or even with the red flag, clearly influencing the progress of the race. Grand Prix.
The fire problem has never been encountered in Shanghai in the past, although this is the first year that Formula 1 has visited China with the new generation of ground effect cars, which produce a lot of sparks as they have to stay close to the ground. asphalt to generate downforce.
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