WATCH: Gasly’s FP2 session brought to a halt after AlphaTauri catches fire out on track

Pierre Gasly’s second practice session ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix was brought to a fiery end on Friday afternoon when his AlphaTauri car caught fire while he was out on track.

The Frenchman was lapping the Portimao track as he tried to build up his knowledge of this new-to-F1 circuit, when he pulled over to the side of the tarmac as flames could be seen at the rear of his AT01.

He hopped out and was soon joined at the scene by several marshals who attacked the blaze with fire extinguishers.

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The session, which was almost exactly half way through, was red flagged to allow the marshals to clear the car, which will likely need extensive work to get it fixed in time for FP3 on Saturday morning.

Gasly, who took his maiden Formula 1 win at Monza earlier this season, was 10th quickest in first practice, and was fifth on the time sheets in FP2 when the session was red flagged.