CCTV problems at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve curtails Practice One at Canadian GP; Only 12 drivers managed to set a lap time before Pierre Gasly stopped on track to cause initial red flag; Issue was rectified in time for Practice Two, which was extended to 90 mins to make up for lost running
Saturday 17 June 2023 03:33, UK
CCTV issues at the Canadian Grand Prix saw Practice One limited to just four minutes of track action before the session was aborted early.
Pierre Gasly brought out a red flag on his first lap after grinding to a halt at Turn Eight, which Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer later revealed was due to an electrical fault in his steering wheel.
But the session never resumed as issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve meant cars could not return to the track on safety grounds.
The issue was able to be rectified in time for Practice Two, which started 30 minutes early and extended to a 90-minute session to make up for some of the lost running.
The FIA confirmed in a statement: "In accordance with Article 11.9.3.o of the FIA International Sporting Code, having received a request from the clerk of the course and in the interests of safety, we hereby modify the official programme of the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix by extending the duration of Free Practice Session 2 by 30 minutes.
"Free Practice Session 2 will now start at 1630hrs (2130hrs BST).
"The tyres required to be returned after Free Practice 1 in accordance with Article 30.5 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations, should now be returned no later than two hours after Free Practice 2."
Steve Nielsen, the FIA's sporting director, told Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz that the governing body had been "exploring" the possibility of relying on TV pictures to ensure safety in the event the CCTV problems were not resolved for Practice Two.
Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok had suggested on commentary during Practice One that that was the approach the FIA should take.
"I would argue that there's races around the world where they haven't got CCTV cameras where they rely on marshal posts to radio incidents in, and then you can use the TV cameras to look at it," he said.
Chandhok also expressed his disappointment for the spectators who had failed to see any real action, saying: "The fans, a lot of them only get one opportunity a year to see Grand Prix cars.
"A lot of them can't afford tickets for the Saturday and Sunday, so they come on the Friday to soak up some atmosphere and see the cars live on track.
"For them I feel really sorry for because they are missing a whole load of action."
In the four minutes of running that did take place only 12 drivers set a lap time, with Valtteri Bottas finishing top of the standings ahead of the two Aston Martin cars.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to even get out for an exploratory lap.
Mercedes had expected a swift resumption after Gasly's car had been cleared from the track and sent Hamilton and Russell out to the end of the pit lane but then had to wheel the cars back to their garages when the CCTV issues became apparent.
Analysis from Sky Sports F1's David Croft...
"The problems were the CCTV that monitors every single straight and corner on the track. They are basically a series of static cameras that pick up all the incidents for safety reasons that the FIA need to be covered.
"The problem with the CCTV is, take the medical car for instance - it would go through a series of corners, then get to one corner and disappear and you wouldn't see it for a 15-second delay for instance.
"The coverage wasn't live and in real time. You can't have cars running on the track if for 15 seconds you can't see them on the CCTV.
"That's why they had to red flag it. They couldn't fix it in time and the race is on now to get it fixed in time for an extended FP2 session.
"When Gasly's car disappeared on the driver tracker, that's when they realised 'whoops, we've got a bit of an issue here and we need to red flag it and resolve it'.
"It's not necessarily an FIA problem or their fault. It's the local promoter and organiser who are responsible for those CCTV cameras and the maintenance of them. They are the people trying to fix it currently."
