- Sparks coming off F1 during the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix weekend have started grass fires.
- However, F1 cars shoot out sparks at most races without causing fires, so it’s not clear what’s propelling the fires in China.
- The FIA is still investigating, but unconfirmed theories blame a chemical agent to make the grass look greener, or swamp gasses.
Authorities are investigating into what caused two fires to erupt on the grass that lines the Shanghai International Circuit during the 2024 Formula One Chinese Grand Prix weekend. While the inquest is ongoing, theories have emerged suggesting that swamp gas might be at the heart of the incident.
On top of potentially becoming dangerous, the fires have already proven themselves to be a nuisance. After a blaze broke out at Turn 7, Friday morning’s first practice session had to be red flagged. Later, the second sprint qualifying session had to be delayed because of another fire around the same section of track.
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Authorities from the FIA, which is the governing body behind F1, visited the scene of the blaze to try to understand what was going on. Unfortunately, Autosport reports that the first look didn’t reveal much about the situation.
In the absence of official information, some interesting theories have arisen. One suggests that the grass may have been treated with a chemical agent to make it look greener. The theory goes that the chemical was flammable, and that a fire was ignited by the sparks coming off the bottoms of passing F1 cars.
Another theory suggests that the blazes might be related to the land on which the track is built. No, it’s not haunted, but the circuit is built on a swamp. The idea is that gases such as methane might be seeping through the ground, helping to propel the fires.
Certainly, it seems that something unusual must be going on here to spark these fires. Although F1 cars kick up a lot of sparks as they hurtle down the road, many tracks are lined by grass, and fires like these remain rare.
Since fires have been sparked twice, the FIA plans to conduct a detailed examination into the situation so, hopefully, we’ll get an official answer about what’s really going on here soon.
Regarding the trackside grass fires in China, the FIA say: "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."#F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/lyUy6oyt5o
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) April 19, 2024