The Las Vegas GP had promised a lot of entertainment and racing action to the general public after the hype built up around it. FIA even used the Vegas Sphere to advertise the Vegas GP entire weekend. However, when it was time for the ultimate action a major mishap occurred on the circuit.
Las Vegas GP is a new addition to F1 calendar this year but considering the difficulties faced in organising the race, including cancellation of grandstands, there were talks about cancellation of the race. While the race weekend managed to overcome the problems somehow, Carlos Sainz was badly affected due to the incident today.
Carlos Sainz’s car faces multiple damage in manhole bump
The Vegas GP circuit is a street circuit which means there was a lot of preparation required to make the track race ready. However, just 9 minutes into First Practice session Carlos Sainz was on his way to get a hold of the layout when he encountered a disaster.
A manhole cover which is an inevitable characteristic of the street circuits, came loose and crashed into the underbelly of the Carlos Sainz’s car. After regulation changes, the new cars heavily rely on ground effects and since Sainz’s car sucked in the cover his entire floor was destroyed along with a multitude of components. His session ended right there and Sainz narrowly escaped a nasty result during the FP1 session of Las Vegas GP weekend.
Carlos Sainz was pretty excited about gambling in Las Vegas, but a gamble with safety during his race wouldn’t exactly be the game he wants to play. Sainz is currently safe and there was no harm or injury done to him, but it will be interesting to see FIA’s take on this negligence.
Fred Vasseur makes his feelings crystal clear
The Las Vegas GP didn’t provide an ideal start for Ferrari, and it should be know that F1 cars are technical marvels built on a lot of infrastructure and money. The extensive damage to Carlos Sainz’s car has been a cause of disturbance in the Ferrari camp and the Italians are fuming on this matter.
Fred Vasseur did not hold back his words at all, slamming the race organisers of the Las Vegas GP and calling them sub-par due to the unfortunate situation Ferrari is now involved in.
“It cost us a fortune….I think it’s just unacceptable for F1”, were the Ferrari principal’s comments on the matter per ESPN. He highlighted the cost of these repairs which Ferrari will have to pay for with its cost cap and further expressed his disapproval for the race and Las Vegas GP circuit.
There are speculations that Ferrari may try to commence a reimbursement due to the issue of a foreign object causing damage to their car. It wasn’t Carlos Sainz’s mistake in any case, as he had no idea of the loose drain cover and was just trying to set lap times.
Do you think Las Vegas GP is poorly managed in spite of all the spotlight it is getting, and do you want the Las Vegas GP to return again next year?
