18:01 – During practice day for the Malaysian Grand Prix, Formula 1’s organisers were forced to deal with a bizarre incident, as a dislodged drain cover prematurely ended proceedings. It was brought to light after unlucky Haas driver Romain Grosjean ran over it, damaged his car and was sent into tyre barriers at high speed. He escaped from the crash unscathed, but as history shows, this is far from the strangest incident to be witnessed during a Formula 1 weekend. GPUpdate.net looks at some of the sport’s most bizarre incidents.
Drain covers
Unfortunately for teams and drivers, incidents with drain covers are not new to the sport. As with Grosjean, a few drivers have been caught out by errant covers, which in most cases are dislodged by one car, only to be collected by the chasing competitor. These dense, metal objects have caused session-ending damage to cars in the past.
In most of these cases, drainage-related incidents have happened during free practice sessions, with circuits in Turkey, Azerbaijan, China and Monaco all being caught out by loose covers.
While most loose covers simply lift up and remain attached to the circuit, one of the scarier examples came during practice for the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes uplifted a cover on the exit of Sainte Devote and straight into the path of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Fortunately, the object did not gain much height and only collected Button’s front wing.
Perhaps the costliest example of drain cover damage came back in 2005, when McLaren’s Juan-Pablo Montoya was eliminated from the Chinese Grand Prix – the season finale. Montoya was fighting for a podium with Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella and team-mate Kimi Räikkönen when he ran over a recently-displaced cover at Turn 10, damaging the underside of the car. This ended McLaren’s chances of beating Renault to the Constructors’ Championship.
People
While circuit security and safety has become stricter over the years, it has not stopped the sport from having near-misses with marshals and spectators.
Marshalling is a great way to see Formula 1 action closer than the average spectator, but some have come too close to the action over the years. The most recent example came during the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix where, following a Safety Car period, the race restarted with a marshal still on-track. As the field roared down the start/finish straight, the marshal was left scampering away from Turn 1 to the safety of his post behind the barrier, fleeing with a couple of seconds to spare.
Marshals are there to sometimes enter the circuit during a live session, but on rare occasions spectators have broken ranks and tried to do the same, usually disrupting proceedings as a result.
Both the 2000 German Grand Prix and the 2003 British Grand Prix were interrupted due to unwanted guests on the circuit. A former Mercedes employee disturbed the Hockenheim race and an Irish Catholic priest was responsible for the pause in proceedings at Silverstone by running down the Hangar Straight. Coincidentally, both races were won by Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello.
Additionally, in Singapore two years ago, the Safety Car was deployed when a spectator wandered along the side of the track on the Esplanade Bridge.
Animals
An array of animals have shown their curiosity towards Formula 1 through the years, often venturing from their habitats to explore the nearby Grand Prix venue. Some are quick to realise that a Formula 1-infested circuit is no place to forage for food and quickly make their escape, but others are not so lucky.
Stray dogs have interrupted proceedings at the Turkish and Indian Grands Prix venues; Bruno Senna collided with a daring canine at full speed during a GP2 support race in Turkey in 2008, while practice sessions were halted to chase dogs away from the Buddh International Circuit in 2011.
The Canadian Grand Prix also has its fair share of local wildlife. Groundhogs are often seen in the vicinity of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and have kept drivers on their toes. Back in 2007, Anthony Davidson was unable to avoid collecting one with his Super Aguri. He damaged his front wing and the incident cost him his first points in Formula 1.
Foxes and squirrels have done their best to put drivers off in Montréal, while seagulls were one of the topics of conversation following the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel claiming to have been distracted by them landing on the racing line at Turn 1.
There have also been mid-session distractions for the likes of Juan-Pablo Montoya and Max Verstappen who spotted deer (Austria) and a lizard (Singapore) respectively.
Miscellaneous
Even if all the drain covers are secured, the spectators are unable to breach the fences and all wildlife chased away, bizarre incidents can still occur.
A freak accident during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix resulted in Ferrari’s Felipe Massa being taken to hospital with severe head injuries. After initially looking like a simple car problem or driver error on the approach to Turn 4, it gradually became clear that he had been struck on the head by a loose spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car, knocking him unconscious.
The practice sessions for the 2015 Russian Grand Prix became something of a farce after a track sweeper suffered oil leak before the running, meaning the opening session was delayed due to the clean-up operation. When the session began, drivers were reluctant to run and be part of the cleaning process. A very wet FP2 rendered the day pointless.
Written by: Luke Murphy
Source :http://feeds.gpupdate.net
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