Mercedes under investigation as bizarre error damages McLaren

Mercedes has been placed under investigation by the F1 race stewards after creating an unsafe situation during qualifying.

It forced race control to throw a red flag during Q3 following the bizarre error from Mercedes.

The Brackley-based squad sent Kimi Antonelli's car out onto the track with its cooling fans still attached to the car.

While the first cooling fan was deposited into a gravel trap, the second became stationary on the racing line after Turn 2.

It was then struck by Lando Norris's McLaren, disintegrating it into hundreds of pieces.

Norris immediately noted that he had struck some debris and requested that his car be checked for damage.

Antonelli was lucky to take part in the session at all after Mercedes carried out repairs following a seismic crash at the end of FP3.

The Italian driver emerged from the garage late in Q1 to get a lap time on the board.