MIST STOPS PLAY
A
fter a disrupted opening FP1
session in Shanghai, Formula
teams were unable to do any
running at all in the afternoon stanza
as low-lying mist grounded the
medical helicopter on day one of the
Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
Unlike in FP1, when the 20
drivers combined for just 124 laps
in between red flags stoppages,
FP2 was never started, with race
control monitoring conditions and
hoping for a window in which to open
proceedings.
FIA race director Charlie Whiting
explained, “The helicopter can’t land
at the hospital. It looks reasonable
at the circuit but they can’t land in
downtown Shanghai. We get news
from the airport every 10 minutes.”
“If it doesn’t clear there will be no
practice, we have a fixed end and if
it does not clear by then there will be
no P2.”
Sadly for teams, drivers and
fans, it did not clear, meaning the
medical helicopter was unable to
operate – which is mandatory for
every F1 session on safety grounds.
As a result teams and drivers
head into Saturday having done no
set-up work, or any qualifying and
race simulation work they’d usually
do on a Friday, which means an
extremely busy FP3 session and a
unpredictable qualifying will be on
the cards.