Las Vegas Formula One Practice Suspended After Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari Wrecked By Drain Cover
The Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix is off to a smashing start … but not in a good way.
The first practice session held on Thursday evening had to be abandoned after Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz struck a loose drain cover and damaged his car.
Alpine’s Estaban Ocon’s car also suffered damage in the same spot.
“What he said is I think it was on the [radio], ‘I hit something on the track’, he didn’t know exactly what it was. The situation is we damaged completely the monocoque, the engine, the batteries… and I think it’s just unacceptable,” Ferrari manager Fred Vasseur told ESPN.
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The aerodynamic forces created by the fast-moving cars can suck covers out of their holes as the vehicle passes by. This effect was featured in the Sylvester Stallone IndyCar film “Driven” during a race scene set on city streets.
The second practice session was delayed as track personnel used quick-setting concrete to secure the dozens of drain covers located around the circuit.
According to ESPN, Formula One typically welds drain covers shut during races, but that is not allowed under Las Vegas law.
To add insult to injury, Sainz was given a 10-spot grid penalty for Saturday night’s race because the repairs required a new engine and his car had already used up its allotment for the year. F1’s rules on parts replacements do not have a waiver for incidents like the one that occurred, according to The Race.
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Sainz went on to set the second-fastest lap behind teammate Charles Leclerc during the second practice session, which started at 2:30 a.m. local time (PT) and ended at 4 a.m.
Rookie Williams Racing driver Logan Sargeant, the only American in the series, finished with the last-place time in 20th. Sargeant scored his first point as an F1 driver at the U.S. Grand Prix in Texas with a 10th-place finish, following the post-race disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for technical violations.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. PT on Saturday.
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