First practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been cancelled after George Russell hit a manhole cover during the session.
Russell struck the manhole cover on the straight between turns two and three shortly after the first practice session began. The cover caused significant damage to the underside of the Williams, forcing Russell to stop, bringing out the red flags.The entire cover was lifted from the manhole in the incident, and following inspections the decision was taken to abandon the session with an hour left to run so all the covers could be checked.
A comedy of errors unfolded as the Williams was returned to the team. The car was loaded onto a recovery truck, which then struck a bridge, and spilled hydraulic fluid onto the FW42’s engine cover.
Only the Ferrari drivers were set lap times during the truncated session. While most of the other cars joined them on the track, the Mercedes pair did not even make it out of the pits for their installation laps before proceedings were halted.
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Jere (@jerejj)
26th April 2019, 10:35
#WellDoneBaku
ColdFly (@)
26th April 2019, 11:27
;)
DAllein (@)
26th April 2019, 10:36
Wow!
That’s the epitome of incompetence!
Of course US 2005 was bad, but Azerbaijan 2019 just trumped it.
DAllein (@)
26th April 2019, 10:37
And the truck driver hitting the bridge… just *facepalm*
IJW (@)
26th April 2019, 10:42
@dallein Can they blame Ericsson for that? ;-)
DAllein (@)
26th April 2019, 11:17
Sure!
I believe I’ve seen him lurking just behind Russell!
Lee1
26th April 2019, 12:14
Remember last year when Grosjean crashed behind the safety car? The truck that came to remove his car was something out of the 1980s and looked like it belonged on a scrap heap. The operators then farcically tried to hook it up the the car for very long time before finally managing to get the car removed from the track. They looked totally untrained and with substandard equipment. Surely the track side equipment should be mandated to be up to scratch and the workers should have to be trained properly?
MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
26th April 2019, 10:43
Exaggerating much? We’ve seen it(loose drains) happen at many tracks, including Monaco, in the past, and the tow truck was a matter of inches. Calm yourself
DAllein (@)
26th April 2019, 11:17
What? “Calm yourself”? Are you talking to me?
If so, just move along, we have nothing to talk about.
kpcart
26th April 2019, 11:26
I agree calm your farm. This is nothing compared to us 2005. It’s fp1.
ColdFly (@)
26th April 2019, 11:28
Take it easy mate!
anon
26th April 2019, 18:27
@dallein, he does have a point, as there have been quite a few examples of similar incidents happening over the years.
Just off the top of my head, I can think of Montoya (2005 Chinese GP IIRC), Barrichello (2010 Monaco GP) and Perez (2011 Malaysian GP) as instances where a driver had his car damaged by striking a loose drain cover.
ADD (@addimaf1)
26th April 2019, 11:29
This is no where near 2005, this kind of things happen quite a lot. Its not that big of a deal.
rpaco
26th April 2019, 13:11
Flav’s mates!
Matthijs (@matthijs)
26th April 2019, 10:37
I hope Williams have enough spare parts. Of all the teams Williams is the least capable (equipped) to cope with a bizarre accident like this. Real shame.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 10:41
Claire spoke to Radio 5 and said they are OK for spares but she sounds angry with the situation – as she should be!
ColdFly (@)
26th April 2019, 11:30
They can always use that magical silver tape ;)
kpcart
26th April 2019, 12:44
That’s what they did to kubicas floor in melbourne, didn’t help
rpaco
26th April 2019, 13:35
“Magical silver tape” no this is serious! Beyond gaffer tape, beyond even Duck tape, this, folks, is Gorilla tape territory!
We should remember that inspection or manhole covers are normally held in place by gravity acting on their mass, which equates to heavy metal! If the floor of an F1 car is working properly it will create a partial vacuum between it and the surface over which it is travelling.
I can’t be bothered to do the maths but depending on the surface area of the cover it will be dragged upwards by a force of many tens of Kilograms, hence the reason most tracks weld them to the outer supporting frame, which itself must be firmly fixed, lipped and embedded in concrete most probably.
nase
26th April 2019, 13:39
He was (jokingly) talking about a way to fix the car, not the manhole cover.
BlackJackFan
26th April 2019, 17:22
I believe “gaffer” and “duct” (not ‘duck’…) tape are the same thing. The first name is used in Britain, the second in the States…
But good of you to explain the physics… lol.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th April 2019, 13:29
@matthijs didn’t Haas sue Sepang for their incident a few years back? It was also a drain cover which destroyed Grosjran car. Can’t remember if they were paid after all…
Bobby Balboa (@bobby-balboa)
26th April 2019, 10:38
Not the first time this has happened in F1! You would have thought they would have a system to secure them on street circuits. Could have been nasty if it was at the end of the longest straight!!!
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
26th April 2019, 11:39
This is a problem even on designated circuits. Look at Grosjean’s drain cover induced crash in malaysia 2 years ago
But I agree they need to check it out. Like you said, if this happened at the end of the straight, the results could be dire, especially if this were to happen in the race itself
FA
26th April 2019, 12:07
if this happened at the end of the straight, the results could be dire, especially if this were to happen in the race itself – Indeed, like when somebody decides to change direction thrice.
Psi (@psi)
26th April 2019, 10:42
Am I the only one that prefer the word drain over manhole???
MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
26th April 2019, 10:44
They are 2 different things.
Sonny Crockett
26th April 2019, 10:58
Agreed.
I don’t want anybody interfering with my manhole!
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 11:02
One’s an exit, the other is an entry (tongue in cheek)
nase
26th April 2019, 12:22
@phylyp
To be honest, that made the mental imagery even worse for me. >_<
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 12:26
Not that cheek, dang it!
Lee H (@stopitrawr)
26th April 2019, 11:19
A Manhole is what’s used for utilities etc like water/telecoms access points.
A drain is a drain, obviously. They’re usually conflated wrongly.
ColdFly (@)
26th April 2019, 11:32
In today’s PC times it should be ‘personhole’.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th April 2019, 13:30
(@coldfly Lol!!!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 10:44
Well – a lot of people say there should be less practice sessions so they should be happy or at least interested in the situation.
Wonder how badly the bridge is damaged and if that will be a problem?
Lee H (@stopitrawr)
26th April 2019, 11:20
Hopefully the bridge will be OK.
It made a loud bang but doesn’t appear to have actually hit that badly.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 10:46
Shades of Malaysia, where a grate damaged the Haas. IIRC, it took two years for the promoter’s insurance payout.
Joao (@johnmilk)
26th April 2019, 10:47
On the plus side, the pundits are finally right. Ferrari 1-2, Mercedes last, with Leclerc 2s faster than Vettel.
Isn’t that what we have been buying?
ColdFly (@)
26th April 2019, 11:33
Who needs sprinkler when you have manholes?
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 10:51
Just had a thought.
What would have happened if this happened in Qualifying?
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 10:52
I don’t need any congrats or jokes about having had a thought either by the way! :P
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 10:57
@nullapax – I think quali would be cancelled on Saturday, and run on Sunday morning (similar to how quali is rescheduled if there are extremely heavy rains).
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 11:06
Ahh right – makes sense.
BlackJackFan
26th April 2019, 17:25
Now can we make jokes…? ;-)
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
26th April 2019, 11:03
Definitely a challenge for the new Race Director. He’s going to be one very busy man for the next few hours.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 12:28
@dbradock – well, in all honesty, the buck stops with him. He’s ultimately responsible for the readiness of the circuit. And if they don’t have a way of verifying that the manhole covers have been adequately secured (via welding or bolts), then they need to come up with a procedure to do so. Trust, but verify.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
26th April 2019, 13:39
@phylyp I’d actually wondered whether or not it was something missed because of inexperience on his part.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th April 2019, 13:43
@dbradock – mmm, fair question.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
26th April 2019, 11:03
Leclerc also touched it prior to Russell. Extremely lucky for Charles to be honest. Shame for George, just another problem to his career so far. This will have consequences both for F1 and F2. Qualifying for the latter starts in less than an hour, I am not sure if both FP2 and Q will take place today.
David BR (@david-br)
26th April 2019, 11:27
Well, at least Leclerc has blown Vettel’s cover and established a jarring 2 second gap.
kpcart
26th April 2019, 11:28
Is kubica the only driver on the grid yet to do a lap of this track? I believe the other rookies all raced there in f2. His return goes from bad to worse, but I’ll support him to the end!
BlackJackFan
26th April 2019, 17:28
. . . and your unnecessary KUB comments go from dull to boring…!
kpcart
26th April 2019, 11:32
Can f1 make fp1 in fp2 place, then run fp2 and fp3 tomorrow? They could then run quali on Sunday morning before race which has been done before. Do fans get a refund for such farces not due to weather, but due to the sport?
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
26th April 2019, 12:12
I’d rather just miss out fp1 this time. Lack of practice could make for an even more interesting race at what can often be an interesting circuit?
kpcart
26th April 2019, 12:45
Yeh true actually
FA
26th April 2019, 12:16
FP1’s been cancelled, so no, it won’t be run.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
26th April 2019, 12:19
I recall an incident at a World Sportscar Championship round at Montreal in 1990 where a drain cover was pulled up just prior to the bridge before turn 8 & hit by A Porsche 962 which ended up bursting into flames due to a ruptured fuel tank.
https://youtu.be/74GxRTMVI3o?t=576
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7AjVQXrIfU
FlashFormula
26th April 2019, 12:23
This is not a good start to the weekend, but luckily it was not in the race. I also remember Jenson hitting a cover in the Monaco race a few years back, can’t remember which year it was, but it was close to being a nasty crash.
kpcart
26th April 2019, 12:47
No one has mentioned the other incident, montoya in Turkey, and that isn’t a street circuit.
BlackJackFan
26th April 2019, 17:29
I take it KUB wasn’t involved in that incident… ;-)
Stephen Higgins
26th April 2019, 13:15
Somewhere up there Charlie Whiting is shaking his head and tutting to himself; “I’ve only been gone two races and look at this lot …”
frogster
26th April 2019, 13:23
It appears that Maldonado has finally got another drive in F1.
Adub Smallblock
26th April 2019, 14:29
I thought I read on another site that it was not just the cover that came up (that was secured), but the entire manhole assembly, that was NOT secured. Can anyone confirm or correct me??