SEPANG, Malaysia -- First practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix had to be suspended in order to put out a fire out on Kevin Magnussen's car.
The car caught fire on its return to the pits at the start of the session, forcing Magnussen to leap from the cockpit as flames engulfed the airbox above his head. Renault's pit crew were quick to extinguish the initial fire, but a fuel leak at the top of the car meant the bodywork ignited several more times before it could be safely returned to the garage.
With the Renault stricken in the pit lane and surrounded by fire marshals, media and Renault mechanics, the session was red flagged for 15 minutes until it could be safely removed. After several more flash fires, Renault was able to drain the car of fuel and finally return it to the pits where the long job of dismantling and cleaning the car began.
Unsurprisingly, Magnussen took no further part in the session.
Explaining what happened, Renault technical chief Nick Chester told Sky Sports F1: "We had a fuel leak from a breather. We were running the tank full and running some experimental parts for Mexico, so a different set-up to the other car. We're looking at what happened.
"It looks like the tank has pressurised. We're investigating now ... There's a bit of loom damage, obviously a lot to clean up, but hopefully we'll get it out for FP2."
When the fire initially started, several of the mechanics dealing with it were not wearing overalls as it reignited several times. Chester said the team did all it could to ensure the situation was dealt with safely.
"Everyone looks OK, which is the main thing ... There was quite a bit of dust around but everyone seems to be fine.
"Obviously it should be people who wear overalls who go to that first. I think some people stepped in early on but we did make the call it should only be people with overalls on who deal with it."