Las Vegas GP: Carlos Sainz manhole incident ‘unacceptable for F1’, says Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has labelled the incident that saw his driver Carlos Sainz forced out of FP1 at the Las Vegas GP as “unacceptable for F1”.

The event’s first sight of F1 cars on track was aborted after just nine minutes with Sainz’s car suffering damage from a dislodged manhole cover.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon experienced the same issue, as the extensive preparations for this new race on the F1 calendar came to nought.

Speaking in the team principal briefing alongside the likes of Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, Vasseur said: “He [Sainz] said ‘I hit something on track’ and he didn’t know exactly what it was.

“The situation is that we damaged completely the monocoque, the engine, the battery.

“We had a very tough FP1. This will cost us a fortune. We f***** up the session for Carlos. We won’t be part of FP2 for sure, we have to change the chassis and two-thirds of the car.

“OK, the show is the show and everything is going well, but I think it’s just unacceptable for F1 today.”

For their part, F1 released a statement on social media clarifying the situation.

It read: “Following an FIA inspection, it was found a concrete frame around a manhole cover had failed during FP1.

“The FIA are commencing checks on all other covers across the circuit. Any changes to scheduling will be advised in due course.”

A later social media post from F1 confirmed the latest around FP2.

“Practice 2 is expected to commence at 2am local time in Las Vegas (10am UK time on Friday).

“This is subject to local circuit engineering team completing the necessary works on the track.

“The session will be extended to 90 minutes.”

Examining the reason for the manhole covers lifting off the track, Williams principal James Vowles speculated that it was likely down to the “huge amounts of suction” that F1 cars can generate.

Adding on the track’s layout – before the FP1 chaos – Verstappen said: “I don’t think it’s that exciting.

“For me a street circuit is not that exciting, especially with these new cars, they are just too heavy. When you have low grip that doesn’t help.

“The scenery will look great, driving through the Strip, but the layout itself is not the most exciting.”