Pierre Gasly’s car dramatically caught fire with the Frenchman still in it during practice for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Flames shot out of the air vent after Gasly had driven his AlphaTauri into the pits, The Sun reports.
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The 26-year-old quickly jumped out of the cockpit and thankfully emerged from the flames unscathed.
The AlphaTauri crew, with the help of an Aston Martin mechanic, acted fast to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.
Gasly’s car caught fire as it was being rolled into the garage at the end of his run in the middle of FP2 for the Singapore Grand Prix.
He then bravely came back out to complete practice, despite earlier having to leap out of his burning vehicle.
“It’s all part of the practice, checking how strong the engine is in these hot conditions,” Gasly quipped after the session.
“It wasn’t ideal, it got slightly hot, and when we connected the fuel breather it caught fire, but we could switch it off and restart again. So, just a bit of a barbecue feeling, but it was nothing too bad in the end.
“It’s just a procedure, and in these conditions it’s so warm – it’s nothing worrying or concerning for the rest of the weekend.”
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Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Ted Kravitz said: “Everything’s been sorted out. There’s been a bit of tape that’s been out over the fire damaged engine cover.
“The team are telling me the fire started when the fuel breather was connected to the car but it was put out quickly and then he’s going back out on the circuit.”
He added: “Normally when it’s pushed back into the garage they put a breather on it so the air in the fuel tank can breathe.
“And then they keep it on when they put fuel in or take fuel out to allow the air to come out of the fuel tank.
“So what I don’t understand is, because I wasn’t here, was why that was done when the car was still in the pit box. I just need to get my head around that.”
On the track, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz clocked the fastest second practice time, with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc second and Lewis Hamilton down in fifth.
The action at Marina Bay resumes with FP3 and qualifying on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s highly-anticipated race.
Singapore FP2 results
1 — Carlos Sainz, Ferrari 1:42.587
2 — Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.208
3 — George Russell, Mercedes +0.324
4 — Max Verstappen, Red Bull +0.339
5 — Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes +0.595
6 — Esteban Ocon, Alpine +0.825
7 — Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +0.844
8 — Fernando Alonso, Alpine +0.933
9 — Sergio Perez, Red Bull +1.319
10 — Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1.395
11 — Lando Norris, McLaren +1.426
12 — Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +1.662
13 — Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1.835
14 — Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +1.882
15 — Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo +1.937
16 — Alexander Albon, Williams +2.557
17 — Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +2.624
18 — Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +2.860
19 — Mick Schumacher, Haas +3.036
20 — Nicholas Latifi, Williams +3.966
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
