F1Briefings

FIA Taking Measures to Prevent Grass Fires at Japan GP after FP2 Blazes Cause Red Flags

Nelson Espinal

May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem walks through the paddock after the F1 Sprint Race at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images
May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem walks through the paddock after the F1 Sprint Race at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images / John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The second Free Practice session of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix experienced numerous delays and incidents that ultimately reduced the available run time for teams seeking to refine their setups and gather data.

Alpine driver Jack Doohan experienced a massive shunt when his car bottomed out, causing it to crash so hard at turn 1 that he emerged from the vehicle a bit wobbly.

Eventually, he was cleared; however, Fernando Alonso had another off-track excursion, which resulted in yet another red flag.

The more concerning incidents involved dry grass igniting at different turns, which occurred twice toward the end of the session.

The blazes were started by sparks flying from cars that were driven very low and pushed hard for qualifying simulation runs.

There is a sense that when the cars are full of fuel during the race and not being pushed as hard, there is less potential for sparks to fly onto the grass.

The FIA, however, is taking pre-emptive measures to try and curb the threat posed by the fires.

"While we continue to look into the fires that occurred during FP2, our focus before tomorrow will be on taking pre-emptive measures," an FIA statement read.

"The grass has been cut as short as possible, and loose, dried grass has been removed from affected areas. Prior to tomorrow's sessions, the grass will be dampened, and specific response teams will be stationed around the track."

The wind conditions on the track were also more intense than expected for Saturday and Sunday.

Rain is also expected on Sunday, along with cloud cover that could reduce the risk of on-track fires.

Despite the pauses in action, lap times were recorded during the limited qualifying simulation runs, with Oscar Piastri topping the time sheets at 1:28.114.

His teammate Lando Norris was just under half a tenth away, while the McLarens were the fastest on track. Lawson and Hadjar were P5 and P3, respectively, with Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari positioned between the two Racing Bulls.

Many teams, such as Mercedes and Red Bull, were unable to complete a representative run time due to delays or traffic conditions, which could present a different picture on Saturday.

Max Verstappen stated that although the delays affected running, there were still troubling concerns with the RB21.

“Of course, it was quite chaotic out there for everyone with the red flags, so like everyone else, we couldn’t complete all of the things that we wanted to do,” Verstappen told the media.

“Today has been quite difficult for me because I’ve been trying a lot of different things with the car but it seems like a lot of things are not really clicking at the moment, and it’s quite difficult just to put the lap down."

For more F1 news, head over to F1 on SI.

Published
Nelson Espinal
NELSON ESPINAL

Nelson Espinal lives and breathes sports. Avidly following of everything ranging from motorsports to Mixed Martial Arts to tennis, he is connected with most of the sports world at all times. His dream of writing about sports started at 16 years of age, writing for a Lakers fans blog, and his passions for sports writing has grown since. He has his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and a minor in writing literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Home/News