Manhole cover issue 'unacceptable' as Vegas first practice cancelled

The Las Vegas Grand Prix can be watched in real-time on both 5 Live and the BBC Sport website.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix track's issues with manhole covers are completely unacceptable, as stated by Frederic Vasseur, the boss of the Ferrari team.

The initial training session ended abruptly in just nine minutes when Carlos Sainz accidentally bumped into a loose manhole cover.

The Alpine belonging to Esteban Ocon had sustained similar damage just prior to the session being abruptly terminated.

According to Vasseur, the car of Sainz has a damaged chassis, engine, and battery, which would result in his absence from the second session.

The FIA declared a delay without any fixed time frame as they inspected all the covers for manholes around the racecourse.

The second session started at 2:30 in the morning according to the local time, which is equivalent to 10:30 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Vasseur mentioned that the harm would require a substantial amount of money to repair.

He said: "The event was amazing and I'm extremely pleased with the efforts of the F1 owners, Liberty Media, in coordinating the race. However, we must distinguish between the spectacle and the competitive aspect."

The F1 opening ceremony (which took place on Wednesday) was a massive event. However, just because you put on a big spectacle doesn't mean you can neglect the athletic aspect of the competition. It is possible to host an impressive show while also delivering a strong performance in the sporting realm.

Before the races commenced, the FIA, which is the regulatory authority, examined and confirmed that the track was suitable for racing.

In a surprising move, F1 has taken on the role of promoting its own race and has invested over £500m to get everything ready. This involved acquiring a piece of land in Las Vegas and constructing the biggest pit building for an F1 event, as well as preparing the track.

The construction of the pit building in Nevada city will now be a fixed feature for Formula One.

After striving for 40 years with intermittent effort, the grand prix in Las Vegas has finally come to fruition, thanks to the backing of the casinos. The decision was made with the anticipation of generating millions of dollars in revenue and enhancing the city's reputation as a worldwide hub for sports.

The CEO of McLaren Racing, Zak Brown, expressed his opinion that the mistake made during the event was not due to a lack of effort or carelessness. In fact, he believes that no costs were spared to organize the occasion. Despite this, something went wrong. According to Brown, the organizers made an error that needs to be identified and rectified to prevent a recurrence.

James Vowles, the head of the Williams team, noted that current Formula One cars produce a substantial amount of pressure from their undercarriages and were caught off guard by the resulting force.

Alpine had to change the frame of Ocon's vehicle after his accident.

Ocon encountered the identical drainage issue as Sainz while heading back to the pits, after the Ferrari's mishap led to a red flag being displayed. The team was not alerted by race control concerning any signs of clutter or hazards on the course.

Zhou Guanyu, a driver from China, narrowly avoided a dangerous situation while driving for Alfa Romeo. He was the first driver on the scene after Sainz's accident and had to quickly maneuver his car to avoid hitting the detached drain cover on the road.

According to a representative of FIA, after a thorough examination, it was concluded that the concrete structure surrounding the cover of a manhole had experienced a malfunction.

A drain cover has been a common source of issues on F1 tracks before.

During the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the initial practice session got scrapped due to a mishap. George Russell's Williams collided with a drain lid, resulting in significant destruction.

When the initial round ended, the racers were still acquainting themselves with the course. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc's speed was 2.5 seconds ahead of the Haas team's Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.