Beijing hairpin halts free practice

Practice was initially delayed by over four hours as last-minute circuit inspections were completed.

But fears that the hairpin would be far too tight for the A1GP cars proved to be entirely founded when the very first driver, Team Germany's Nico Hulkenberg, ran out of road on the exit despite a crawling approach.

Chaos followed, with the following drivers literally queuing at a standstill with little hope of getting around. Others shot up the escape road, stopped and resorted to turning their cars around with a large dose of throttle.

The session was quickly red-flagged when it proved impossible to move the Team Lebanon car, and two subsequent attempts at a re-start resulted in a similar story. The day's running has now been abandoned.

Team Malaysia driver Fairuz Fauzy said: "I was able to get around it once in normal fashion, but it's not safe to run with that hairpin. It's clear that you can't trust all the drivers to get around there for a full race distance. It needs to be widened and probably covered by permanent yellows."

Team Ireland's John O'Hara added: "It's a disaster really. We knew it might be difficult for two cars side by side, but didn't think it would be so bad for a single car. I never got to try and take the corner properly - the track was blocked every time."

Widening the circuit may not be beyond the realms of possibility, but seems unlikely as it would require extensive digging and resurfacing. Another option could be to eliminate the whole loop containing the hairpin, but this would make for a very short circuit.

FIA circuit inspector Charlie Whiting and A1GP organisers are set for a late night of decision-making.