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Pierre Gasly found himself at risk of missing qualifying for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after his car burst into flames on Friday, causing a red flag that ate into the weekend’s only practice time available.
In the 45th minute of free practice one, flames began pouring out of the rear of Gasly’s car.
The Frenchman tried to return to the pits before parking on the side of the track as the bodywork caught fire.
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Thick black smoke then poured from under the engine cover of the Alpine A523 as Gasly watched a group of track marshals douse the flames.
The team eventually got his car fixed in time for qualifying which followed a few hours later.
It was another setback for Gasly who crashed out in the chaotic final moments of the Australian Grand Prix.
“Pierre was forced to stop on track due to a loss of hydraulic pressure on his car, the team will look to investigate the cause,” Alpine wrote in a Tweet.
After that incident, teammate Estaban Ocon’s car remained in the garage.
“We’re investigating an issue at the rear of Esteban’s car as a precaution,” the team added.
The incident caused a lengthy red flag during the hour-long practice session.
As the clock does not stop for red flags in practice sessions, all 20 teams lost valuable time to perfect their setups ahead of qualifying later in the day.
There is only one practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix because of a revised weekend format that includes two qualifying sessions.
Under the new changes, a two-and-a-half-hour break will occur between the end of practice one and the start of qualifying for Sunday’s showpiece grand prix.
With the F1 championship returning after a four-week break, and to the buzzing streets of Baku which boast a reputation for causing havoc, the sole practice session did not lack drama.
Kevin Magnussen stopped his Haas on the track at about the same time as Gasly’s fire. The team later said he had an unexpected loss of fuel pressure.
Yuki Tsunoda also brought out a yellow flag as he limped away with a puncture after spinning his AlphaTauri into a wall early into the session.
Championship leader Max Verstappen clocked the fastest time of the session but there were encouraging signs for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc only 0.037s behind.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was third-fastest ahead of Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will take place on Sunday at 9:00pm (AEST).
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