Canadian Grand Prix practice descends into farce after bizarre CCTV blackout

First practice at the Canadian Grand Prix was abandoned due to an issue with local CCTV infrastructure in Montreal

Practice at the Canadian Grand Prix descended into an early farce on Friday after FP1 was abandoned due to CCTV issues.

First practice got underway for just five minutes before Pierre Gasly’s Alpine car stopped at the side of the track with a driveshaft issue, triggering a red flag.

Yet while Gasly’s car was quickly wheeled to safety, the red flag remained due to issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

As opposed to qualifying and the race where the clock stops with a red flag, in practice sessions the clock keeps rolling in order to keep the daily schedule progressing.

The session did not resume, but FP2 will now run for 90 minutes and will start half-an-hour earlier at 4:30pm local time, 9:30pm (BST), in order for the drivers to get valuable time on track.

An F1 spokesperson stated: “The FIA have clarified a two-hour gap is required between FP1 and FP2.

“FP2 will start at 1630 local time, 30 minutes earlier than previously scheduled, and run for 90 minutes.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was quickest out of all the early runners, though some cars did not even get out on track.

A track worker checks the CCTV system as practice was halted in Montreal (Getty Images)