Canada camera issues wipe out FP1 and spark MAJOR change to FP2

Canadian Grand Prix

Canada camera issues wipe out FP1 and spark MAJOR change to FP2

Due to a CCTV problem, the first free practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix was cut short

Jay Winter

Friday 16 June 2023 20:34 Updated: 01:14

An issue with CCTV caused a very short running of the first free practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix – and the second session will now be lengthened as a result.

FP1 lasted only a few minutes after Pierre Gasly's Alpine broke down on the track just two minutes into the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.

Yellow flags were brought out after an issue with Gasly's clutch saw the Frenchman's session last seven corners.

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As marshals were removing Gasly's car from the track, the session was then red-flagged due to safety reasons after issues with local CCTV infrastructure around the circuit arose.

Local CCTV issues

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft and Karun Chandhok discussed the delay of the first session.

"The CCTV cameras will be static cameras that will pick up an incident as soon as it happens," said David Croft on Sky's F1 broadcast.

"You're not necessarily going to pick up an incident with the cameras that are moving as they're focusing on something else."

"I would argue that there's races around the world where they haven't got CCTV cameras," added Karun Chandhok.

"Where they rely on marshal posts to radio incidents in, and then you can use the TV cameras to look at it. I feel we need to get on track here."

Although fans will feel as if they were robbed an hour of their lives, FP2 is reported to be extended by 30 mins in order to compensate for the CCTV issues.