FP1 of the F1 Las Vegas GP ended just nine minutes after Carlos Sainz was stopped for a red flag, with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time.
The FP1 session of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix lasted just nine minutes before being canceled by the FIA due to red flag conditions. A yellow flag had already been waved when Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz crashed into a culvert cover and immediately parked his car on the strip.
As a result, the FIA ended the FP1 session early and inspected the circuit, particularly the drainage covers around the track. Sainz wasn’t the only one suffering from problems, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon also suffered chassis damage after hitting a drain cover.
Ocon should not have continued if the meeting had continued, as Alfa Romeo’s Chou Guanyu also complained that the drain cover had hit him. In the overall standings, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the lead with a time of 1:40.909 minutes, ahead of the top three Haas cars.
Nico Hulkenberg took second place ahead of Kevin Magnussen, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth. Ocon finished fifth, Sainz finished seventh, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell and AlphaTauri’s Hiroki Tsunoda in eighth.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is 9th in the top 10, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly is in the top 15, joined by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, Guanyu and McLaren’s Lando.・He finished 11th, ahead of Norris.
The result is: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1725376622319091818?s=20
UPDATE: The FIA has issued a statement regarding the inspection of all drainage covers around the Las Vegas GP track following the early end of FP1. “Upon inspection, it was the concrete frame around the manhole cover that was damaged,” the report said.
“All other manhole covers will need to be checked. This will take time. Discuss with your local circuit engineering team how long it will take to resolve and any resulting changes. Update schedule.”
