Qualifying under pressure? Open drain cover provides code red in Portugal

A notable incident at the end of the third free practice session in Portugal: Sebastian Vettel drives over a manhole cover, which raises it. The race management immediately decides to stop the session.

There was still about a minute to go when Sebastian Vettel drove through turn 14. With his car went over the cover. The same drain cover then stayed up and damaged the Ferrari driver's car. The race director acted quickly and stopped the session with a red flag. The cars did not come out after that.

The circuit of Portimao has recently been provided with a new layer of asphalt and that was noticeable during the free practice sessions. Almost all drivers have spun at least once. Another additional problem is that the circuit hasn't been tested very much. This is probably the cause of the incident with the cover.

It will be a busy afternoon for the race management to check the rest of the manhole covers on the circuit before the start of qualifying. If that doesn't work out in time, this session will undoubtedly be postponed. Let us hope that this does not have to be the case.