Sports isn’t unfamiliar with an intrusion from the animal kingdom. Whether it is dogs on pitches at soccer games or cats at NFL games, interruptions from our furry friends have been seen throughout the years.
But there was a unique sight in the final practice session on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix when an adventurous lizard put a halt to proceedings.
The curious reptile ventured onto the Marina Bay Street Circuit, running around without a care in the world while cars sped past at frightening speeds.
To protect the drivers – and the lizard – the session was red flagged, meaning all drivers had to return to the pitlane while the reptile was removed.
The official Formula One X account called it the “weirdest red flag ever,” while some of the drivers were clearly perplexed by the lizard.
Mercedes driver George Russell could be heard asking: “What on earth is that thing?!” After his engineers informed him it was a lizard, the British driver replied: “A what?! It looks like a dragon!”
As the drivers returned to the pitlane, it was left to the marshals to remove the lizard from the track so racing could continue.
Two marshals – one armed with a plastic bag – got the lucky job of trying to remove the reptile, bringing about the strange sight of two people chasing a lizard down a Formula One track as it scampered away.
The oddness of the moment wasn’t lost on everyone, with TV cameras showing RB driver Daniel Ricciardo laughing as he watched the footage. The F1 X account once again described the situation succinctly, saying: “Things are getting surreal.”
Eventually, the lizard was cleared from the track and the final practice session resumed.
It’s not the first time a lizard has interrupted racing in Singapore. In 2016, Max Verstappen laughingly complained about a “giant lizard” on the track during practice before it hastily ran off and away from speeding cars.
