The first free practice session for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix was stopped after just ten minutes on Thursday evening due to a manhole cover problem. “After inspection by the organizers and the FIA, a manhole was found to be faulty during the first test session,” the organizations wrote in a press release. “The FIA, F1 and local engineers are working to resolve this issue. We will update the program as soon as possible. »
Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari stopped after rolling over the manhole cover, triggering the stewards’ red flag, minutes before organizers announced the session would not resume. Ferrari’s French boss Frédéric Vasseur was furious after the incident: “the car is completely damaged, its engine, its battery. I find this unacceptable. It costs us a fortune. We will not participate in Trials 2, that’s for sure,” he told the press.
Similar accident in 2019 in Azerbaijan
The second free practice session was initially scheduled for Thursday at midnight Las Vegas time. In addition to Sainz, Alpine announced that French driver Esteban Ocon suffered damage and had to change his vehicle’s chassis.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff lost his temper after a journalist’s question about “the task” represented by this failed start to the Grand Prix. “It’s not a task or anything. It’s only Thursday, we haven’t finished the first practice session, they’re going to seal the manholes and we’ll have forgotten everything tomorrow. »
A similar incident took place in 2019 during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when the car of George Russell, then at Williams, hit a manhole cover causing the first practice to be stopped.