Nevada’s Las Vegas Disputes erupted at the $500 million Las Vegas Grand Prix after Carlos Sainz Jr.’s Ferrari suffered significant
damage after running over a water valve cover nine minutes into the practice session on Thursday. According to the FIA, Sainz
collided with the cover’s concrete frame. The governing body needed an additional eleven minutes to order all vehicles off the track so
it could conduct a thorough inspection of the circuit.
A second practice that was supposed to begin at midnight on Thursday was postponed, and Ferrari CEO Fred Vasseur angrily declared
that Sainz would not be able to participate because of the “just unacceptable” event. Ferrari was called to confer with F1’s stewards to
ascertain whether they could replace the entire chassis as well as other parts.
Video from spectators and traffic cameras showed Sainz’s Ferrari shooting sparks as it momentarily continued down the course
following the incident. A group of spectators observing from inside the vicinity of the crash scene seemed surprised and gasped when
they saw the car speed by with something clearly amiss.
During a post-practice news conference, Vasseur was asked about the “bigger picture,” but he refused to shift the subject.
“Today’s issue is unclear to me. It will cost us a fortune because we had a really difficult first race,” he remarked. “We made Carlos’s
session a mess. We need to modify the car’s chassis, thus we won’t be competing in the FP2. It is not fit for an F1. You would feel
displeased in this circumstance.
When the moderator tried again, Vasseur exclaimed, “May I go now? He nodded to Mercedes principal Toto Wolff, saying, “Can you
ask Toto a question?”
When questioned if the shortened session, which left Sainz and Esteban Ocon of Alpine with damaged cars, was a disgrace for Formula
One’s first-ever trip to Las Vegas, Wolff became just as caustic.
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