The F1 Circuit In Shanghai Keeps Catching On Fire

The Formula 1 circus is back in China for the first time since 2019, and just two sessions into the weekend it is — as the kids say — pretty lit.

By which I mean fires keep popping up alongside the track.

Friday saw cars on track for a single free practice session followed by Sprint Qualifying. 

This was a major challenge considering it has been so long since the series has visited the Shanghai International Circuit, and it has been resurfaced since 2019 as well. 

That's more than enough to give drivers and teams a lot of challenges, so the last thing they'd need is, oh, I don't know, fires breaking out in the grass right alongside the track.

Well, that happened, and the lone practice session was red-flagged so crews could put it out. 

We've seen animals run on the track before and plenty of issues with drain covers, but you don't usually see fires starting while cars are on the track.

Well, that's weird, but at least it was just a one-time thing. What are the chances that fires started in back to back sessions?

…What's that? …It happened again?

Yup, it did during Sprint Qualifying.

As you might expect, there were some concerns about fires breaking out around the track, and the FIA and F1 are looking into it.

The early explanation actually makes a ton of sense. 

What they said between practice and Sprint Qualifying was that a bump in the track was causing cars to bottom out and the titanium skid blocks were hitting the track and sparking.

You see that at a lot of tracks, but the problem here was that those sparks were winding up in the grass and catching fire.

Fortunately, no one was hurt by either fire, and it just served to make an interesting Sprint Qualifying session even more interesting.

It was a rainy session from start to finish with the precipitation ramping up in SQ3. cars were sliding all over the place with tons of track limits violations. 

McLaren's Lando Norris set the fastest time and will start on pole for the Sprint race, but only after his time was reinstated after being deleted for what was thought to have been a track limits violation at the final corner on his preparation lap.