British rookie Slater's Mexico FP1 cut short as Audi faces stewards over cooling-fan error

Freddie Slater’s first F1 practice appearance turned into a brief and bizarre outing at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with Audi summoned by the stewards after his car was released with a cooling fan still fitted in the right-hand sidepod.

Why it matters:

The incident puts Audi’s garage procedures under scrutiny and overshadowed the first FP1 run for an 18-year-old regarded as a rising star in its driver programme. Slater, an F3 runner-up this season, is set to step up to F2 with Invicta next year.

The details:

• Slater replaced Gabriel Bortoleto at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for FP1.
• He was sent out with the cooling fan still inside the sidepod; Audi recalled him and the stewards opened an investigation into an unsafe release.
• On his next run, Slater was told to return to the pits and switch off the engine after pulling into his grid box.
• He completed just six laps and set no time, ending his session early.

What’s next:

Slater will hope for a cleaner run when he returns in FP1 for the São Paulo Grand Prix in place of Nico Hulkenberg. For Audi, the immediate task is explaining the release to the stewards and tightening a process that turned a development opportunity into a costly lesson.