Suzuka fires: FIA takes action before qualifying
The FIA has implemented emergency measures to avoid a repeat of the fires that disrupted free practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, after four trackside fires broke out during Friday's and this Saturday morning's sessions.
During free practice in Japan on Friday, F1 cars accidentally set fire to the dry grass at the edge of the Suzuka circuit twice. These incidents caused session stoppages with red flags. The situation repeated itself this morning, with two new fires during the third practice session, bringing the total number of fires this weekend to four.
Sparks at the origin of the flames
Yesterday’s session was interrupted four times by red flags, two of which were due to fires that broke out on patches of grass at the trackside. The FIA’s preliminary investigation pointed to a specific cause: the sparks produced by the floors of Formula 1 cars, especially when they scrape the ground at high speed. These sparks, coming from the titanium blocks under the cars, ignited the dry grass near the Degner and Spoon curves.
« The climatic conditions of recent days in Suzuka, marked by dry and sunny weather, have significantly dried out the vegetation around the circuit », an official spokesperson for the automobile organization explained yesterday. Indeed, the weather, combined with sparks and a strong wind, created the perfect conditions to trigger these fires.
Immediate action plan
To prevent any new incidents during free practice and qualifying sessions today, the FIA had implemented several concrete measures. The grass around the track was cut as short as possible to limit the amount of potential fuel, and the most exposed areas were cleaned to eliminate any dry residue. Before Saturday’s sessions, technical teams had conducted preventive watering of grass patches on the sidelines to reduce the risk of ignition. Finally, additional safety teams were deployed near sensitive sectors, ready to intervene in case of a new outbreak of fire.
New incidents during free practice 3
Despite the measures taken after Friday, two new fires broke out this morning during the third free practice session. One of them occurred approaching the 130R corner, probably caused when Gabriel Bortoleto slightly went off track while negotiating this challenging left turn. Following this, the FIA quickly communicated: « Before qualifying, all available time and resources will be devoted to further wetting the grass before the session. » This new urgent intervention comes as qualifying starts at 3:00 PM local time (8:00 AM French time), with little activity on the track in the meantime, except for a Ferrari Challenge Japan race scheduled for early afternoon.
A phenomenon already observed
This is not the first time Formula 1 has faced this type of incident. Last year, during the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, the only practice session was also interrupted due to similar grass fires. In fact, the grass caught fire at turn 7, causing a brief interruption with a red flag while marshals extinguished the blaze.
Later, another fire had started near Turn 5 at the end of the first part of the sprint qualifying, delaying the start of the second phase. On this occasion, the FIA had taken comparable measures that had prevented any recurrence during the rest of the weekend.
The weather conditions are expected to remain sunny for today’s qualifications, maintaining the risk of fires. However, the forecast for Sunday indicates a high probability of showers, which could naturally reduce this risk for the main race.
