F1 practice session suspended TWICE due to fire at Japanese GP as real 'explanation' emerges

The second practice session for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was red-flagged twice due to a trackside fire at Suzuka.

The session had already been stopped twice, due to Jack Doohan's high-speed crash at turn one and Fernando Alonso beaching his Aston Martin in the gravel after turn eight.

But in the last 15 minutes of the session, the red flag was waved twice more for two separate fires on the grass at the side of the circuit.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton reported the first fire on team radio, with fire extinguishers required to put it out.

The session then restarted again, but a second fire at another part of the circuit ended the running for FP2 prematurely.

High winds at the Suzuka circuit are believed to have been a major contributor, with Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz noting that sparks from Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg's cars landed in the dry grass and caused the fire to set alight.

It is not the first time that an F1 track has caught fire.

At the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, a fire again broke out twice on the same part of the circuit in the third and final sector in Shanghai.

On that occasion, Kravitz speculated that the track being built on swampland - which is highly flammable - may have been the cause.

The FIA stated: "After a first review of the video footage, it seems like it is sparks coming from cars igniting the fire in the grass run-off area."

Earlier in the session at Suzuka, meanwhile, Doohan hit the turn one tyre barrier at 185mph after losing control of his Alpine car.

The exact cause of the crash is unclear, but the Australian's practice running was ended after just one flying lap after he was replaced in first practice as part of a scheduled change.

Kravitz reported that Doohan is 'shaken but basically okay' after being assessed at the track's local medical centre.