The first Formula One practice of the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been halted less than 10 minutes into the session after Carlos Sainz ran over a manhole cover on track.
Sainz appeared to run over the manhole cover just nine minutes into the practice on the street course that stretches down the famed Strip.
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It caused the Ferrari to bottom out and potentially destroyed his engine.
“We are currently looking at an issue with a drain cover,” F1’s governing body said as it called all the cars off the track on Thursday night.
“We’re not going to resume as it’s going to take time to understand the issue and take any necessary actions to remedy.”
The FIA later said Sainz hit the concrete frame around a manhole cover and the governing body must now inspect every manhole cover on the course.
“We will be discussing with the local circuit engineering team about the length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any resultant changes to the schedule,” the FIA said.
There is a second practice scheduled for midnight local time.
The 3.85-mile (6.2 km) street circuit utilises 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.
Esteban Ocon also had a problem before the session was called, and apparently also ran over something because the chassis of his Alpine was heavily damaged. Ocon said as he passed Sainz on the track, he believed he hit the dislodged cover.
Charles Leclerc posted the fastest time in the few minutes he enjoyed in his Ferrari.
Leclerc clocked 1:40.909 for his fastest lap, followed by the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
Fans who packed into the stands to see the highly anticipated track in action during its debut were disappointed as was American Logan Sargeant, the only driver who did not make it out on the track.
“Well… that was fun,” the Williams driver posted social media.
– With Reuters
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