A bizarre trackside fire brought an unexpected halt to the first practice session ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

Small flames began to flicker from a patch of grass near turn seven only 15 minutes into the session, causing a red flag to be shown.

Though a nearby marshal rushed to the scene to put out the fire before it had a chance to take hold, there was still visible damage left on the grass when the action resumed a short while later.

The delay was far from ideal preparation for teams and drivers in what was their only free practice session for this weekend’s race in Shanghai, which sees the return of the sprint race for the first time in 2024.

This is also the first time Formula One has visited this track since 2019, owing to stringent Covid-19 restrictions in the country, meaning drivers were keen to complete as many laps as possible to re-familiarise themselves with the Shanghai International Circuit.

Practice at the Chinese GP had to be halted on Friday morning after a trackside fire appeared

The session was red flagged as martials looked to put out the flames beside the track

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the surprise name at the top of the leaderboard in the sole practice session for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix

A new one for me… red flag for First Practice at the Chinese Grand Prix because the track is on fire. #F1 pic.twitter.com/33wueneQcH

— Super Grover (@Super_Grover) April 19, 2024

It is not yet known what caused the fire but Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz suspected it may have been sparks coming off the cars landing on the grass.

‘The cars bottom out on the apex of that corner specifically,’ said Kravitz. ‘The cars bottom out, and they are producing sparks.

‘With the wind blowing where it is, I can absolutely imagine that the reason for that fire was that there was a spark coming off the car’s skid blocks, travelled downwind and hit the patch of dry grass.’

There was another surprise in store for the session with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll finishing top of the timesheets.

Championship leader Max Verstappen was third-fastest ahead of today’s sprint race qualifying session, which begins at 8.30am BST.

Lewis Hamilton’s woes continued with the Brit labelling his car as ‘rubbish’. He could only post the 18th-quickest time in FP1.

A second fire later broke out during Sprint Qualifying, as rain began to fall at the Shanghai International, in scenes Nico Rosberg described on Sky Sports as ‘unbelievable’.

Fire!! AGAIN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xGghBVz47V

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 19, 2024

‘It’s on fire again, unbelievable!’ The former world champion said.

‘In the corner there’s a big bump on the ground and all the cars are launching big sparks from under the car, and the wind is pushing the sparks into the track at that point and putting the grass on fire.

‘We’ve never seen that before.’