Tempers Flare at Las Vegas Grand Prix
Las Vegas — Tempers flared at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after the first practice of the $500 million race was halted nine minutes into the session Thursday night because Carlos Sainz Jr. ran over a water valve cover that badly damaged his Ferrari. The FIA said Sainz hit the concrete frame around the cover. It took another 11 minutes for the governing body to call all cars off track so it could inspect the entire circuit.
The start of a second practice scheduled for midnight Thursday was delayed, and Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur raged that the "just unacceptable" incident would keep Sainz from participating. Ferrari had to replace the entire chassis and other components and was summoned to speak to F1's stewards to determine if the repairs would draw a penalty.
Video captured by both fans and traffic cameras showed a fountain of sparks spewing from Sainz' Ferrari as it continued briefly down the track after the collision. One group of fans watching from indoors near the section of track where the crash occurred appeared shocked and let out gasps as they saw the car fly past with something so obviously wrong.
During a post-practice news conference, the moderator attempted to steer the conversation towards the "bigger picture," but Vasseur was unwilling to change the topic.
"I'm not sure that's the topic for me today. We had a very difficult FP1 session that will have significant financial consequences," he stated. "We made a mistake that affected Carlos' session. We won't be able to participate in FP2 for sure, as we need to replace the car's chassis. This is unacceptable for F1. Anyone would be upset in this situation."
The moderator made a second attempt, to which Vasseur responded, "Can I leave now? Can you ask Toto a question?" while gesturing towards Mercedes principal Toto Wolff.
Wolff also became defensive when questioned about whether the shortened session, which resulted in damaged cars for both Sainz and Esteban Ocon of Alpine, was an embarrassment for F1's return to Las Vegas after 41 years.
F1 and its ownership group, Liberty Media, are promoting the race themselves and have invested half a billion dollars in the extravagant event along the Las Vegas Strip.
"That's not a major setback. It's nothing. It's Thursday night, and we missed out on a practice session that won't be remembered. They'll fix the drain covers, and no one will talk about it tomorrow morning," Wolff confidently remarked.
F1 Las Vegas Responds to Drain Cover Incident
Published on September 10, 2021
F1 Las Vegas has issued a response to the recent drain cover incident that occurred during FP1. The incident, which saw a drain cover come undone, has been labeled as "completely ridiculous" by Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes.
Wolff criticized the negative coverage of the incident and stated that it was just a minor issue that has happened before. He emphasized that the focus should be on ensuring the safety of the drivers and preventing such incidents from happening again.
In a statement, F1 Las Vegas confirmed that the incident was caused by a failed water valve cover. They assured that F1, the FIA, and local engineers are working together to resolve the problem. The second practice session, originally scheduled for midnight, is now expected to start at 2 a.m. local time.
It has made for a troubling start to the ballyhooed race in which F1 returned to Las Vegas for the first time since it ran in 1981 and 1982 on a course that mostly consisted of the Caesars Palace parking lot. F1 and Liberty were determined to make this year's race an extravaganza, but the hype has been tempered by expensive tickets, exorbitant hotel rates that outpriced many new American fans, and locals simply furious by the months of disruptions to build the course.
The 3.85-mile street circuit utilizes a large portion of the Strip and passes several Las Vegas landmarks on the 17-turn layout. Because much of the course is open to traffic during the day, the FIA was not able to inspect the track and approve it for racing until early Thursday morning after the course had been closed overnight. It appeared the initial inspection began around 3:30 a.m; FIA rules require a track to pass inspection one day before cars are on track.
Even though Vasseur said "donations" were the only thing that would calm him down after the Ferrari was damaged, he joined three other team principals in praising the event and the efforts of Liberty and F1 for their efforts.
"I am still convinced it is a mega event and we have to continue," he said.
Added Wolff: "It's like Fred said, this is a mega spectacle. It's going to set a new standard for the sport and that's important. We had track action and then a drain cover became undone."
The incidents involving manhole covers in Formula 1 have been a cause for concern among the team principals. One such incident occurred in 2019 during the first practice at Baku, when George Russell ran over a manhole cover. Similarly, in 2016 at Monaco, Nico Rosberg's car hit a manhole cover which then flew up and hit Jenson Button's car, resulting in extensive damage to Button's McLaren.
Unfortunately, Esteban Ocon experienced a similar fate on Thursday night. As he passed Carlos Sainz on the track, his car was damaged, and he believed that he had hit the dislodged manhole cover.
