First practice on Friday morning had to be red flagged after a fire erupted on the grass on the inside of Turn 7 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The same section later caught fire at the end of the first session of sprint qualifying, which led to the start of SQ2 being briefly delayed.
Following the first problem on Friday morning, the FIA visited the area before qualifying to try to understand exactly what was the causing the grass to ignite.
Initial analysis conducted from video footage suggested that sparks being thrown up by the cars were being blown onto the grass, which was then catching fire.
However, that has only offered a partial explanation for the phenomenon, because the size of the fires being caused is far bigger than would normally be anticipated from grass, especially after a major downpour on Wednesday will have moistened the ground.
Various theories have emerged about the extra catalyst that is causing the sparks to trigger the larger blazes.
Source: Autosport