Canadian Grand Prix practice stopped because of malfunctioning CCTV

Formula One can be filled with breaks and stoppages for all sorts of reasons, but this one might take the cake as one of the rarest and most strange of the lot.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 15: Pierre Gasly of France and Alpine F1 attends the Drivers Press Conference during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 15, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The Canadian GP got off to a false start after race bosses were forced to scrap first practice due to a CCTV failure, The Sun reports.

Pierre Gasly ground to a halt in his Alpine but the session did not restart as Race Control spotted that the local CCTV cameras had failed.

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It came after only three laps and as the clock ticked down, the FIA eventually canned the session.

A statement from the FIA said: “The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track.

“This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem.

“The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session won‘t be extended as there must be 2.5hrs between FP1 and FP2. We are looking at options to extend FP2.”

The delay came after Pierre Gasly’s Alpine stopped on track. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/AFP

In order to compensate for the lost track time, the FIA increased FP2 to 90 minutes rather than the usual hour.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen comes into the eighth race of the season off the back of three successive victories.

He has opened up a 53-point lead over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

And he is the overwhelming favourite to win in Montreal this weekend in what would be his sixth triumph of 2023.

Verstappen is eyeing a third consecutive F1 drivers‘ title.

Since debuting in the sport eight years ago, he has picked up 40 wins from 170 race starts.

But he had to wait until last year to clinch his first Canadian GP victory – which he won by less than a second from Carlos Sainz.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.