F1 Eifel GP opening practice delayed due to weather conditions

Opening practice for Formula 1’s Eifel Grand Prix has been delayed by at least half an hour with the medical helicopter unable to fly due to the weather conditions.

With the closest hospital more than a 20-minute drive away, F1’s regulations state that the on-site medical helicopter must be able to take off and fly to its destination for any on-track running to commence.

But with the F1 paddock met by rain and murky, foggy conditions on Friday morning at the Nurburgring, the opening 90-minute practice session has subsequently been delayed by 30 minutes.

Race control issued a message saying “the medical helicopter currently cannot fly”, adding that there will be a further update at 11:30 local time, half an hour after FP1 was due to get underway.

Although no cars will be allowed out onto the circuit, the session countdown clock has started as scheduled at 11:00 and will continue to tick down, meaning teams and drivers will lose track time.

There will be a 10-minute warning given before the pit exit opens.

At 11:30 local time, race control confirmed a further 30-minute delay with conditions remaining the same. 

FP1 was due to see the eagerly-anticipated F1 practice debut of Ferrari protégé Mick Schumacher, with the Formula 2 championship leader set to take the place of Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo for the session.

Fellow F2 frontrunner Callum Ilott is also scheduled to make his practice debut in FP1 for Haas, replacing Romain Grosjean.

F1 is visiting the Nurburgring for the first time in seven years, with the German venue stepping in to replace one of the rounds previously cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

FP1 will be delayed for at least minutes, due to the medical helicopter not being able to take off in these conditions#EifelGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g3soLiBzte

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 9, 2020