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Russell's Williams shredded by Baku drain cover, FP1 cancelled

Photo: © LAT Images

Russell's Williams shredded by Baku drain cover, FP1 cancelled

FP1 red flagged due to the incident.

George Russell's Williams suffered significant damage after running over a drain cover and shedding vast quantities of carbon fibre in first practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the necessary track repairs set to cause a lengthy delay to Friday's on-track action.

The session was swiftly cancelled, with checks to every drain cover on the circuit now be required, costing the teams an entire session.

It is unclear if the checks will be completed in time for FP2.

Russell's car appeared to suck the drain cover off the floor, slamming it into the underside of his car just 10 minutes or so into Friday's first session.

Russell confirmed he was unharmed by the incident, although the same cannot be said for his FW42.

"I was just going down the straight on the normal line, hit a man hole cover and got the biggest smack in my boy," Russell told Sky Sports.

"The engine turned off, it ruined the floor and I'm worried for the chassis."

The farcical scenes continued as the truck carrying Russell's car back to the pits collided with a bridge, causing fluid or oil to leak over the FW42.

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