The very first practice session of the Las Vegas GP came to a premature end after Carlos Sainz ran over a unstable drain cover. This lef to the FIA throwing the red flag and not resuming the session as there was a safety concern.
Nine minutes into FP1, Carlos Sainz ran over a drain cover on the Las Vegas Strip which comes on the longest straight of the circuit. At this part of the track, the cars are travelling over 200 miles per hour. However, the speed seemed to be too much for the drain cover to handle.
After the incident, the FIA discovered that there were more drain covers across the circuit with the same issue. The FIA and F1 released a statement after this to address the issue.
Official statement from #LasVegasGP#F1 pic.twitter.com/293QWYSxgC
— F1 Las Vegas (@F1LasVegas) November 17, 2023
There is no confirmation that FP2 will start as scheduled. However, if the work that needs to be done on track takes too long, the FIA will delay the start of FP2. The FIA and F1 will now be seeking the assistance of the engineers on track to check and fix all the drain covers on the circuit. Since this is a street circuit, it will prove to be a monumental task. Hopefully they will be able to do so properly to avoid such incidents during the race.
For this weekend, F1 and the organizers have out a lot of focus on the theatrics leading up to the race. However, they don’t seem to have shown the same focus on testing the track to make sure it is ready for F1 cars to be going over 200 miles per hour.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur fumes over careless F1 blunder at Las Vegas GP
“What he said is that I think I hit something on track and he didn’t know exactly what it was,” he said.“The situation is that we damage completely the monocoque, the engine, the battery. I think it’s just unacceptable.”
“We had a very tough FP1 one that will cost us a fortune. We fucked up the session for Carlos, we won’t be part of the FP2 for sure because we change the chassis of the car. Okay, the show is the show and everything is going well but I think of just unacceptable for the F1 today.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur isn’t happy 👀 pic.twitter.com/YeSk4gEJhv
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
After his rant, Toto Wolff who was sitting beside Fred tried to calm him down, but Fred was angry and said that Toto would do the same if it had happened to his team. Over the years, we have seen Toto rant about his frustrations about the FIA.
Fred Vasseur has ruled out Carlos Sainz’s participation in FP2 as there is severe damage to his car. The drain cover caused damage to his floor, chasis, engine and battery. This will cost Ferrari millions of dollars to repair. Unfortunately, they will not receive any amount from the FIA and F1 to cover these costs.
It will now be very difficult for Carlos Sainz to get enough track time to prepare for qualifying and the race. Let’s see if the FIA and F1 are able to seal all the drains properly in time for FP2.