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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Prenderville

Azerbaijan Grand Prix farce as first practice is cancelled after drain cover comes loose

The first practice of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been cancelled in farcical scenes in Baku.

A loose drain cover caused severe damage to George Russell's Williams, with the session cancelled after just 13 minutes.

The running was first red-flagged, before it was cancelled with he incident raising serious safety concerns ahead of Sunday's race.

F1 announced the first practice session would not resume so the track could be checked and oil could be cleared.

The second practice is scheduled to take place at 5pm local time (2pm UK) on Friday with qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

The track is cleared after the incident (F1/Twitter)
The broken car of George Russell (Getty Images)

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Russell, competing in just his fourth Grand Prix, sustained serious damage to his car after dislodging the drain cover at high speed.

"I got the biggest smack through my body, and the whole engine turned off," Russell told Sky Sports as he described the alarming incident.

"It's ruined the floor and I'm a bit worried for the chassis now. We were on the normal racing line and it's completely ruined our session. It's not what we need at this stage."

The broken car of George Russell is pushed down the pitlane (Getty Images)

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F1 world champion and current leader Lewis Hamilton took to Instagram to question the race organisers.

"How could they have not checked and sealed the drains. Oh well, just gives me extra time to catch up on game of thrones."

George Russell's car is recovered (REUTERS)

The recovery crane carrying the car back to the pits also collided with a temporary footbridge and then started leaking hydraulic fluid over the vehicle.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: "It's clearly not what we want and it's not what you expect from a Formula One track. These drain covers are supposed to be bolted down."

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