After a severely disrupted first practice session at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Friday, things went downhill in FP2 as no team was able to take to the track even once over the course of the 90-minute long second practice session.
In FP1, drivers combined for for a total of 124 laps in between red flags stoppages but FP2 was never started, with race control monitoring conditions and hoping for a window in which to open proceedings.
With the medical helicopter unable to land at the hospital, it looked unlikely that the session would start until it could and after waiting for some time, the session was finally called off.
Sadly for teams, drivers and fans, a break in the weather never arrived, meaning the medical helicopter was unable to operate – something which is imperative for every F1 session on safety grounds.
It means the teams and drivers head into Saturday having done none of the set-up, qualifying or race simulation work they’d usually do on a Friday, raising the prospect of an extremely busy final practice session – and a mixed up and unpredictable qualifying.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took advantage of the lull in racing and had an impromptu signing session with fans, bringing cheer on a day which had many complaining at the lack of action.
Earlier in the day, 15 drivers had done flying laps with big names such as Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton only able to complete formation laps.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had topped the leaderboard, followed by the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll, respectively.