Loose drain cover forces F1 to nix Vegas practice

LAS VEGAS — Formula One’s $500 billion Las Vegas Grand Prix got started in farcical circumstances as a loose drain cover caused the abandonment of the first practice session.

Only eight minutes into the session, Carlos Sainz‘s Ferrari stopped on the track, triggering a red flag.

It appeared the Spaniard had driven over a loose drain cover on the road, which would have damaged the underside of his car.

As a clear safety risk, and because the clock of a practice session does not stop ticking down during a red flag, the time it would take to fix the drain cover meant the session was called off.

Alpine also confirmed it will have to change the chassis on Esteban Ocon’s car for damage at the same place of the circuit.

“After inspection by Formula 1 and the FIA, a single water valve cover on the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit failed during the first practice session,” F1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. said in a joint statement.

“The FIA, F1 and local circuit engineering teams are actively working to review and address the issue.”

F1 hopes to hold a second practice session at 2.00AM local time, two and a half hours after it was due to take place.

It will be extended from 60 to 90 minutes to help make up for lost time.

For that revised session to happen the governing FIA has to check every one of the water valve covers located down the Strip, which makes up 1.3 miles of the circuit, and secure them down with fast-setting concrete.

It is a nightmare start to F1’s controversial race, which the sport has spent $500 million dollars on in a rare deal that sees it be the promoter of the event.

Having annoyed locals through the construction of the circuit, it is one of the worst outcomes F1 could have had.

A similar incident occurred ahead of the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when George Russell’s Williams was damaged by a loose manhole cover.