Pierre Gasly was at risk of missing qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday after his car burst into flames, causing a red flag that ate into the little practice time available. (More Motorsport News)
Gasly tried to drive back to the pits with flames visible at the rear of the car before parking on the side of the track. Thick black smoke poured from under the engine cover of the Alpine as Gasly watched a group of track marshals douse the fire. They used several fire extinguishers, leaving the car's cockpit full of foam.
It was another setback for Gasly after he collided with teammate Esteban Ocon during the last race in Australia.
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The incident caused a red flag for about 13 minutes in the hour-long practice session of the F1 weekend. The clock doesn't stop for red flags in practice sessions, meaning teams lost valuable time to perfect their setups before qualifying later Friday.
There is only one practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix because of a new schedule that includes a sprint race Saturday and a second qualifying session the same day for the sprint.
Kevin Magnussen stopped his Haas on the track at about the same time as Gasly's fire. The team said he had an unexpected loss of fuel pressure.
