FIA race director Michael Masi believes the drain collapse issue at Portimão that prematurely halted FP3 on Saturday may have been caused by the downforce of F1's cars. Yesterday's final practice session was red flagged in its final minutes when Sebastian Vettel at Turn 14 and flipped a drain cover out of its mounting. Subsequent repairs and a thorough check of all the circuit's drain covers led to qualifying being delayed by 30 minutes. Masi said the drain's dislodging was unusual in that it was the element's concrete casing that had collapsed, an issue never seen before at a track. "It wasn't actually the drain cover per se, it was actually the concrete case underneath that...
Full Story »