Canadian GP FP1 wrecked by CCTV failure, FP2 to be extended

Formula 1’s second free practice at the Canadian Grand Prix will be extended by 30 minutes after the opening session was thwarted by a CCTV failure at the circuit.

FP1 was red-flagged just a few minutes into the session, due to Pierre Gasly’s Alpine breaking down on its outlap, and never resumed.

When Gasly’s car was recovered to a safe space very quickly, a swift resumption was assumed.

But the session remained suspended and initially there was no explanation for why. Mercedes even sent both its cars to the end of the pitlane in anticipation of the restart.

This had to be delayed because of what the FIA said were issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the circuit, meaning the session could not restart for safety reasons.

As the delay continued, the FIA clarified that the CCTV is “not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track”.

The FIA stressed it is a local installation that was being worked on but it quickly became clear it was not going to be resolved in time to resume FP1.

The regulations require a two-hour gap between FP1 and FP2, so the FIA was hesitant to pause the clock – and it took until 10 minutes were left before the FIA confirmed the session would not restart.

Instead it’s decided to extend FP2 by an additional 30 minutes, meaning it will start earlier at 4.30pm local time – two hours after the official end of FP1.

This could prove to be the only opportunity for dry running this weekend as rain has been forecast for the other sessions.

Valtteri Bottas led Lance Stroll before the red flag but with only four minutes of running, it’s little indication of the true pecking order.

Practice 1 Results