Fire on track causes red flag during practice in China

A remarkable scene during the one and only free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix. The red flag was waved briefly. However, it was not a car on fire, but the grass area next to the track.

After only 15 minutes of practice at the Shanghai International Circuit, the session was red flagged. No car was in trouble, but the track itself was. A fire started just off the track, on the grass area inside a corner. This fire had to be extinguished before the drivers could go back out.

How it was possible that the grass just caught fire remains to be investigated. At the moment, there is another green flag. It doesn't look like any driver has driven over this grass, and because of the recent rain, the grass shouldn't be very dry either.