Eifel Grand Prix FP1 running delayed by bad weather at Nurburgring

The start of the Eifel Grand Prix weekend was delayed on Friday morning when bad weather meant the drivers were unable to take to the track at 11am local time as planned for the first practice session.

Fog and rain at the Nurburgring on Friday morning meant the conditions were too bad for the medical helicopter to be able to fly - meaning Race Control would not allow cars on track.

The FP1 session did technically start at 11am local time, though Race Control advised the teams that the pit lane would remain closed, and a further update would be issued at 30 minutes into the session. They also said a 10 minute notification would be given before the pit lane opened.

The delay will be particularly disappointing for Mick Schumacher and Calum Ilott, the Ferrari junior drivers who are set to make their F1 free practice debuts in this session for Alfa Romeo and Haas respectively.

Follow all the latest on the delayed session in our live blog here.

Race Director Michael Masi explained they would keep a close eye on the weather, but added that safety was the primary concern.

"It is a bit challenging, obviously, with the fog that’s come in, the medical helicopter is not able to take off and fly to the hospital," he said. "The distance by road is far too far should something occur, so at the moment we’ve effectively started the countdown clock for Free Practice 1 and then we’ll provide a further update to teams every 30 mins.

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"Obviously the region that we’re in is probably not dissimilar to Austria, earlier in the year where we had a similar situation. It’s just the nature of the area and the location, and the fog’s come in, it’s sort of been going up slightly then coming down more dramatically.

"We’ll just judge at the time and from an FIA perspective the safety of all the participants, particularly of the drivers coming out is paramount and that’s not something we will not compromise."