The troubled Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix has been hit with a class action lawsuit after the race’s first practice session was cancelled when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was badly damaged by a loose drain cover.
The highly anticipated first action on the neon-lit circuit, which includes a section along the famed Las Vegas Strip, lasted a little over eight minutes on Thursday before coming to a halt.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Las Vegas disaster in opening practice.
Watch the latest sport on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>
What followed was a five-and-a-half hour break while crews removed all 30 covers along the 6.1km layout and filled the holes with sand and asphalt.
A second 90-minute practice session kicked off in front of empty grandstands at 2.30am (local time) on Friday morning, long after fans had been cleared out in a move officials said was a necessary safety precaution.
Las Vegas Grand Prix officials attempted damage control, offering $US200 ($A310) merchandise vouchers to single-day ticket holders.
The compensation did not extend to those who had purchased three-day passes.
Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting said they had filed a class-action lawsuit against the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix (LVGP) in Nevada state court on Friday on behalf of the 35,000 people who purchased tickets to Thursday’s practice run which was cancelled.
The lawsuit named Formula owners and race promoters Liberty Media Corporation, DBA Formula One Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix and TAB Contractors Inc as defendants.
“There are a number of issues with that (compensation),” Steve Dimopoulos told Reuters.
“Clearly that ($200 merchandise voucher) is not a refund that is sufficient.
“A lot of fans probably don’t even want that, they want their money back.
“There is also peripheral issues of what about the people that came in from out of town and paid for substantial air fare and hotels.”
The decision to send fans home was made out of concern for public safety and security officials who had been on duty for a long time, LVGP CEO Renee Wilm and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, said in a joint statement.
Qualifying took place on Friday and was completed without incident.
There had been plenty of hype leading up to the US$500 million ($A773 million) event but racing in front of empty stands was clearly one of the most embarrassing days in the sport’s recent history.
If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your .
To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.
