China Grand Prix

Formula 1: Burning grass keeps everyone guessing

Excitement over burning grass on the first day of the Grand Prix weekend in China.(Bild: X.com)

Excitement over burning grass on the first day of the Grand Prix weekend in China: there were delays in both free practice and sprint qualifying due to small fires along the track.

"There's a patch of grass on fire," Esteban Ocon, for example, radioed to the pits during practice on Friday. A small section next to the track was on fire, and personnel immediately rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire with fire extinguishers. After a five-minute forced break, the race continued.

Burning grass also in sprint qualifying
It was the same picture hours later in sprint qualifying. At the end of Q1, another small section of the track was on fire, Q2 started a little later. 

According to the International Automobile Federation, initial video analysis showed that sparks from the cars had started the small fires.