FIA confirm rare F1 change after being forced to abandon Canadian GP practice

FIA chiefs have altered the schedule after a technical glitch led to FP1 at the Canadian Grand Prix being abandoned. A red flag was flown just minutes into the session after Pierre Gasly’s Alpine broke down. 

However, the session was not immediately resumed with the governing body confirming there was an issue with the CCTV cameras around the circuit. This led to an extended delay which was an issue for teams with just three hours of practice ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session. 

Discussions quickly began to find a fix with chiefs suggesting FP2 could be extended. A statement read: “The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track.

“This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem. The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session won’t be extended as there must be 2.5hrs between FP1 and FP2. We are looking at options to extend FP2.”

He explained: “I would argue that there’s races around the world where they haven’t got CCTV cameras where they rely on marshal posts to radio incidents in, and then you can use the TV cameras to look at it. I feel we need to get on track here.”

No reason was given for the CCTV issues with Ted Kravitz joking that it may have been caused by groundhogs which are a common feature in Montreal. The FIA’s Steve Nielsen said the issue was still not solved half an hour after the end of FP1.  

McLaren boss Zak Brown confirmed that team bosses had called for the change to give the fans a show. Jenson Button backed the decision for adding time on to the session for the supporters at the track. 

He added: “I was at an event yesterday and most of the people there have been coming for 20 to 30 years. These things happen, it’s disappointing. It’s not a normal circuit as well, so hopefully the fans will be around for the second session.”