Formula 1’s first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix is set to take place this weekend, but things haven’t gone too smoothly in the buildup to the inaugural race.
Ahead of Saturday’s competition, cars took to the track for their first practice session on Thursday. The practice session was extremely short lived, however, as it was forced to conclude less than 10 minutes after it started due to a manhole cover that hit the car of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
In a statement released after the cancellation of Saturday’s practice session, the FIA determined that it the incident was caused due to the failure of a concrete frame around a manhole cover, per Chris Medland of RACER.
The FIA said it would need to conduct a check on the other manhole covers around the track before proceeding, which “will take some time.”
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
Sainz’s car could be seen hitting what appeared to be a small bump while he was taking a practice lap, prompting the Ferrari to return to the garage and officials to brandish the red flag on the practice session.
Sainz wasn’t the only driver to have an issue with the manhole covers. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon had the chassis of his car damaged in a similar incident, per Medland.
