The opening practice session for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been cancelled after Williams driver George Russell hit a loose manhole cover. Just 15 minutes into the session, Russell drove over a loose drain cover and sustained heavy damage to his Williams FW42, an accident which brought out instant red flags. Russell was unhurt in the incident. The FIA and marshals began to carry out an inspection of drain covers around the circuit, with over 300 manhole covers at the Baku City Circuit. Adding to the drama, the recovery crane carrying Russell’s car then collided with an overhead track bridge on its way back to the pitlane. It was announced shortly afterwards that the session would not be restarted. Only Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel had set times prior to the cancellation of the session. Leclerc, who posted the fastest time of FP1, appeared to dislodge the drain cover after initially running over it moments before Russell. It is the first time an F1 practice session has been abandoned since second practice for the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled due to poor weather.<doc-sep>Luck eludes crisis stricken Williams in Baku FP1 The woes of Williams are well documented but in a case of ‘when it rains it pours’ the team was forced to replace George Russell’s chassis when, during the first minutes of FP1 in Baku, the #63 car struck a man-hole cover in the middle of the track which ripped the floor and spat shards of carbon fibre all over the track. The Briton was unhurt but the dislodged cover smashed the underside of the car, bringing out the red flags to stop the session after just 12 of 90 scheduled minutes. “I just hit it, the biggest shock went through my body. The whole engine just turned off, it’s ruined the floor. It was just on the normal racing line and has ruined my session,” said Russell. In another bizarre twist, the mobile crane carrying the Williams back to the pits struck the underside of a sponsor hoarding spanning the Baku street circuit. After it became reality that Russell’s chassis would need to be changed, the team announced on Twitter: “This has done a huge amount of damage through no fault of our own and this is a lot of work and a lot of money to recover these costs.” Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams confirmed when speaking to Sky F1 that they will be seeking compensation from the circuit for the damage caused to Russell’s car. “George’s car will require a chassis change due to the damage caused by the loose drain cover,” said a team spokeswoman. “Therefore due to regulations he will not be able to run until practice three tomorrow.” Former world champions Williams are already facing plenty of problems with an uncompetitive car that is some way off their rivals’ pace. They are last in the standings and neither Russell nor Polish teammate Robert Kubica have scored a point in three races so far this year. The session was red flagged and then abandoned just 12 minutes into the scheduled 90 as organisers and track officials worked to check more than 300 manhole covers and carry out repairs. “They’re going to fix it (the track) now but of course it shouldn’t have happened,” said Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. “Running over a cover like that at 300 kph is not nice.” In more farcical scenes, the mobile crane truck carrying Russell’s stricken Williams back to the pits then hit the underside of a sponsor hoarding spanning the track, leaking fluid onto the car. Ferrari’s two drivers were the only ones to set a time, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Replays showed the Monegasque running over the cover, potentially dislodging it, just before Russell. Five-times world champion and overall leader Lewis Hamilton, winner in Baku last year for Mercedes, did not seem to mind the lack of action, however. “How could they have not checked and sealed the drains?” the Briton asked on his Instagram feed. “Oh well, (it) just gives me extra time to catch up on Game of Thrones,” added the 34-year-old, who has been binge-watching the popular fantasy series.<doc-sep>The Briton's Williams ran over a loose manhole cover on the run down to Turn 3, briefly lifting into the air and shedding debris all over the track. "I just hit it and got the biggest smack through my body," Russell explained to Sky Sports afterwards. "I was just going down the straight on my normal line." As Russell pulled over on the exit of Turn 3, the session was red-flagged for his FW42 to be extricated, while track workers attempted to force the manhole cover back in its place. However, the session was not restarted when Russell's car returned to the pits, and with it understood that the circuit inspectors now need to check over 300 manhole covers around the track surface, FP1 was duly abandoned. Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams described the situation as "not acceptable", telling Sky Sports: "It's not what you would expect from a Formula 1 circuit, the drain covers are supposed to be welded down. We'll be taking that up with race control." Russell's FW42 was caught up in another incident as it returned to the pitlane on the recovery truck, as the crane that had extricated it made contact with a bridge and was damaged, spilling liquid onto the F1 car sat on its flatbed. All teams but Mercedes had completed at least an installation lap in the first 10 minutes of FP1, while the two Ferrari drivers were the only ones to set timed laps. Charles Leclerc recorded the fastest time on the medium tyre, a 1m47.597s, two seconds quicker than teammate Sebastian Vettel.<doc-sep>
Baku FP1: Man-hole cover triggers comedy of errors The Williams of George Russell’s suffered significant damage after he ran over a drain cover, shattering carbon fibre all over the track early in the first free practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The opening session was cancelled before any serious laps were possible and hardly any drivers had emerged from the pits. Russell’s car sucked up the drain cover as he went over it, ripping the underside of the car which forced the driver to stop the car. With repairs necessary, track action stopped. Prior to luckless Russell slamming the cover, Charles Leclerc narrowly missed a similar incident with his Ferrari. From then it was a comedy errors as things got worse for Russell’s car when it was being taken back to the pits. The truck carrying it hit a bridge and fluid from its damaged crane flowed onto Russell’s engine cover. Russell told Sky TV, “I got the biggest smack through my body, the whole engine turned off, it’s ruined the floor and I’m a bit worried for the chassis now.” “The session won’t be going green until it’s sorted. We were on the normal racing line and it’s completely ruined our session. It’s not what we need at this stage.” Later the team reported on Twitter: “George’s car will require a chassis change due to the damage caused by the loose drain cover. Therefore due to regulations he will not be able to run until FP3 tomorrow.” Team boss Claire Williams was understandably not happy, “It’s clear from the data and what everyone can see that there is a lot of damage to the floor of the car and who knows what else. We’ll need to wait and see until we get it back to the extent of that.” “We’ll have to wait and see if that chassis is repairable or if we have to go to our third chassis. It’s clearly not what we want and it’s not what you expect from a Formula 1 track.” “These drain covers are supposed to be bolted down. We’ll be picking that up with race control,” she added. Report in progress…