Tempers flared at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after the first practice of the USD 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. As the moderator of a post-practice news conference attempted to ask Vasseur about the “bigger picture,’’ Vasseur refused to change the topic. “I’m not sure the topic for me today. We had a very tough FP1 that is going to cost us a fortune,” he said.
“We (messed) up the session for Carlos. We won’t be part of the FP2 for sure, we have to change the chassis for the car. It is unacceptable for F1. You would be upset in this situation.” The moderator made a second attempt and Vasseur said: “Can I leave now? Can you ask Toto a question?” as he motioned to Mercedes principal Toto Wolff.
Wolff grew equally as prickly when asked if the abbreviated session — both Sainz and Esteban Ocon of Alpine were left with damaged cars — was an embarrassment for F1’s return to Las Vegas for the first time in 41 years. F1 and its ownership group Liberty Media are promoting the race themselves and have spent half a billion dollars on the spectacle down the Las Vegas Strip.
