The Monaco media centre was evacuated on Thursday evening after a small white package was found to have been left by the entrance, prompting fears it may have contained explosives.
Local police cordoned off the area and asked all jounalists to leave the media centre as a precaution at 9:45 local time.
A bomb disposal crew were called to the paddock. After confirming the package to be suspect, the cordon was increased, pushing the gathered crowd behind the McLaren motorhome, before the item was destroyed in a controlled explosion.
The resultant explosion echoed around the circuit and left plastic fragments scattered over the paddock.
This is the second time in two years that bomb crews have had to attend to a suspect package, although in 2011 the bag was declared safe without the need for a controlled explosion.
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