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Things aren’t going smoothly for the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP.
On Thursday night, we got an early red flag during Ferarri’s practice session due to the car running over something on the track.
The moment Carlos Sainz hit a drain cover on the Las Vegas strip, causing FP1 to be cancelled 👀 pic.twitter.com/KIMbuZoteY
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
According to ESPN, FIA decided to cancel the practice session after discovering a loose drain cover on the track that couldn’t repaired quickly.
F1 has cancelled the first practice session of the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix due to a loose drain cover 😳 pic.twitter.com/hLcP1VHfED
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
The loose drain cover apparently did some major damage to Ferrari’s car.
Sainz's car damaged by a loose drain cover (engine was coasting when he went past). Ocon has also hit one and will need a chassis change. #F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/ZN65LJypa4
— Phillip Horton (@PHortonF1) November 17, 2023
F1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. released a joint statement in regards to what happened on Thursday.
“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. The FIA, F1 and local circuit engineering teams are actively working to review and address the issue. We will provide an update on the race schedule as soon as possible. During this review period, all tickets, food and beverage and entertainment options will continue to be honored, and we remain focused on providing our patrons with a great experience. We appreciate the collaboration of the relevant event operations staff to ensure a safe and orderly egress of patrons if they choose to leave.”
Hopefully FIA figures things out and the F1 Las Vegas GP runs smoothing from here on out.