by The last practice in the Japanese Grand Prix was once again disturbed by grass fires on the side of the route when Lando Norris set the pace.
The second session on Friday was set twice due to the problem, with dry grass being caught by the sparks by the sparks under the cars.
The FIA said on Friday evening that preventive measures, including the damping of the grass and the station of specific reaction teams around the route, had been taken.
But it only took six minutes for Saturday to be stopped in the Suzuka Sunshine on Saturday when marshals were sent out with fire extinguishers to deal with more flames.
The problem returned with six minutes of the remaining one -hour session when the red flag was released for the second time.
With warm weather forecast for the rest of the Saturday, it could prove to be a problem that will have an effect on qualification later in the afternoon.
The FIA said: “Before qualifying, all available time and resources are geared towards the further cushioning of the grass before the meeting.”
McLaren won both races this season – one for Norris and Oscar Piatri – and both on Friday.
The couple dueled it again for the fastest time and it was Norris who led the ranking just 0.026 seconds before the Australian.
The championship leader did not have it in his own way.
Norris had a few fights on Friday before he had exceeded the overall ranking in the opening runs.
He was off the track at Degner Two on Saturday before earning his fastest round.
Mercedes’ George Russell once again showed signs that he could be the man who could take over the fight against the McLaren duo when he became the third fastest, just over a tenth outside of the pace.
Ferraris Charles Leclerc was the four -fastest, but over four tenths before Norris’ Zeit, Max Verstappen off Lewis Hamilton.
Jack Doohan von Alpine took part in the meeting after falling on Friday at the beginning of the FP2.
The team confirmed that all parts of the car had been replaced apart from the electricity unit after they were caused by the failure of the DRS in curve 1 after the high -speed accident.
The qualification for the race on Sunday begins at 1500 local time (0700 BST).
