Thai F2 driver escapes fiery crash before F1 cars take to the Madring for Spanish GP practice

MADRID, Sept 11 - Thai Formula Two driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak escaped unhurt from the burning wreckage of his car after the first big crash of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at the new Madring circuit on Friday.

The 20-year-old lost control and spun backwards into the barriers at turn 19 early on in the practice session with the car bursting into flames.

Inthraphuvasak jumped out of the cockpit without assistance and clambered over the wall but it was some time before marshals arrived with fire extinguishers.

The session was red-flagged and it took some 24 minutes for the track to be cleared for practice to resume with just six minutes left on the clock.

The earlier F3 practice was also halted due to a crash. During a test day last month 19 red flag incidents were reported over the two days, with 11 due to crashes.

The Madring features 22 turns with a long banked 'La Monumental' showpiece corner and is a mix of street circuit and purpose-built track.

Drivers expect it to pose a considerable challenge but have held back from expressing any safety fears before they experience it outside of the simulator.

"In some places, when you have a tiny moment, it can result in a crash," four-time world champion Max Verstappen told reporters on Thursday.

"But Jeddah (Saudi Grand Prix circuit) is the same... You just have to deal with it, try to figure out the margins, and try to keep it under control. But, of course, when you’re on the limit, it’s easy to make a little mistake. But let’s just see how the weekend goes."

Mercedes' George Russell told reporters he would put it as "arguably the most risky circuit of the whole calendar because you have real high-speed corners, Jeddah-esque. The walls are very close, so there's no margin for error.

"But then you have other corners like Baku where you're coming from a high-speed into a slow braking zone. You're braking and turning at the same time so locking tyres are going to be easy and if you lock up you go straight into the wall."

Formula One drivers have two practice sessions scheduled for Friday before qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. REUTERS