Baku, FP1: First practice halted by drain cover incident

Just two drivers had posted times

By Franck Drui

26 April 2019 - 11:39
Baku, FP1: First practice halted (...)

The first practice session for this weekend’s Azerbaijan was brought to a premature finish when Williams’ George Russell hit a loose drain cover.

The drain cover, on the straight before Turn 3, appeared to come loose when driven over by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a little over 10 minutes into the session. Russell, the next car on track, ran over the loosened object which damaged the floor of his Williams FW42.

Russell pulled over on the exit of Turn 3 and the session was red-flagged to allow for the Williams car to be removed, for marshals to clear the debris and examine the manhole cover.

Race control then reported that the session would not be restarted with further checks necessary around the track being required.

Just two drivers had posted times when the incident occurred. Charles Leclerc recorded the fastest time on the medium tyre, a 1:47.597s, two seconds ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF90 1:47.497 5
02 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF90 1:49.598 4
03 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari VF-19 -:—.--- 1
04 Lando Norris McLaren Renault MCL34 -:—.--- 1
05 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RB15 -:—.--- 1
06 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-19 -:—.--- 1
07 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault MCL34 -:—.--- 1
08 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 -:—.--- 2
09 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Honda STR14 -:—.--- 1
10 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes FW42 -:—.--- 1
11 George Russell Williams Mercedes FW42 -:—.--- 3
12 Alex Albon Toro Rosso Honda STR14 -:—.--- 1
13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault RS19 -:—.--- 1
14 Nico Hülkenberg Renault RS19 -:—.--- 1
15 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Honda RB15 -:—.--- 1
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 -:—.--- 1
17 Sergio Pérez Racing Point Mercedes RP19 -:—.--- 1
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes RP19 -:—.--- 1
19 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W10 -:—.--- 0
20 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes W10 -:—.--- 0

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