Grass fires disrupt GP qualifying: Verstappen breaks round record
Grass fires disrupt GP qualifying: Verstappen breaks round record
On Saturday, grass fires continued to ensure chaos for the Japanese Grand" Prix , after the practice and qualification meetings had to be interrupted three times when there were three separate fires.
incidents during the training sessions
fia takes care of security measures
The FIA, the umbrella organization of Formula 1, said in a press release on Friday: "While we continue to examine the fires that occurred during FP2, our focus in front of the morning is on preventive measures." It also said: "The grass was cut as short as possible, and loose, dried grass residues were removed from the affected areas. The grass will be moistened before the sessions tomorrow, and special teams are positioned around the route."
Problems with qualifying
Nevertheless, the measures on Saturday seemed to have little effect when the most remarkable fire broke out during the second part of the qualifying at the outcome of the 130r curve. The session was interrupted for six minutes before it continued.
temperature differences and wind conditions
Although the air temperature was only 15 degrees Celsius on Saturday in Suzuka, the route temperatures reached according to formula1.com up to 39 degrees Celsius.
past is repeated
It is the second time in the last year that fire broke out on the edge of the route at a Formula 1 event. In April 2024, the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai was interrupted during the only training session.
weather forecast and competition start
with a rain forecast for Sunday morning in Suzuka hope that the race itself is not affected. Max Verstappen starts from the pole position after overtaking Lando Norris on his last round with only 0.012 seconds. It is the fourth time in a row that the Dutch in Suzuka wins the qualification, and its time of 1: 26.983 is a new round record for the route.
debuts and placements
Verstappen's new team -mate Yuki Tsunoda qualified in the 15th place at his first appearance for Red Bull, only one place behind Liam Lawson, the driver, whose place he took over after Lawson was only shared two races in the season.
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