‘Embarrassing’ Vegas track disaster forces F1 into brutal 2am session start — LIVE

Formula’s One’s historic 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix begins on Friday (AEDT) with drivers and teams to get their first crack at the temporary street circuit over two practice sessions.

It’s already been a dramatic build-up, with world champion Max Verstappen making it clear on Thursday he’s not a huge fan of the circus surrounding the sport’s 40-year return to Sin City.

And then it got even worse for the big-money event. Practice 1 lasted barely 10 minutes before disaster struck – the concrete framing for a manhole cracking, damaging two cars that drove over it.

The first practice session was cancelled completely after the incident, and the second practice (set for 7pm AEDT) delayed by two hours for rapid repairs.

Watch the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix SUN 19th NOV 5PM AEDT. Join Kayo now and start streaming instantly >

ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know

SHOCK 2AM RESTART CONFIRMED

Hours after Formula 1 officials were forced to cancel the first practice of the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to track damage, the second practice has been given the green light – at an astonishing 2am local time.

It’s a remarkable restart time given drivers have already complained about jet lag leading into the first F1 event in Vegas in more than 40 years.

“Some of the roads here that are used in the circuit have to reopen at 4am,” commentator Simon Lazenby said.

“We are time limited here.

“This isn’t what anyone wanted.”

Crews were forced to try and amend at least one broken concrete frame around a manhole that left Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz stranded on the Strip less than 10 minutes into the first practice.

Esteban Ocon also suffered damage for the same sort of strike, forcing officials to cancel the first practice in “embarrassing” scenes.

Vegas work crews had to then inspect every manhole to make sure they were safe enough to restart.

In a statement, F1 confirmed the 2am restart time – subject to the necessary works being signed off as safe.

SAFETY FEARS IN VEGAS AS ‘ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM’ RAISED

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was billed as the ultimate racing spectacle – but the first practice lasted less than 10 minutes as a shock track safety issue saw the session abandoned.

There’s fears Formula One won’t get any more racing in on Thursday (local time) after a concrete frame around a manhole came uncovered on the Strip – damaging both Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Esteban Ocon’s Alpine Renault in a matter of minutes.

The damage was so severe, both cars will need new chassis in what is a disastrous blow for the big-money event.

Commentator Karun Chandhok said the manhole moment just “shouldn’t happen” in modern racing, while Martin Brundle feared the issue would see the second practice also scrapped.

“You’ve got to fix it in a permanent way,” Brundle said.

“What used to be a rule was you couldn’t have a meeting, a Grand Prix, until there’d been a previous race event held at that circuit, but that got taken away some time ago.

“Normally, you’d trial out a track like this.

“Will anything run today now? How can you be sure this track will be ready before practice two?

“That’s it for today in my experience.

“Fixing that, checking everything else that’s out there… fixing that and letting it dry and making sure it won’t come out again is a big job.

“Theoretically they were going to open the Strip as soon as the F1 finished.

“That’s a very, very big issue.”

Formula One confirmed an inspection of all manhole covers would be undertaken on the 6.2km track before any racing could return.

And that would prove costly, Jenson Button warned.

“You can’t weld metal to road – it has to be metal to metal,” he said.

“If the surround isn’t secure, that’s a big issue.

“That’s a scary moment.

“It’s one of the worst things to hit. They are heavy bits of metal.”

Host Simon Lazenby said Formula One needed to address the “elephant in the room” in regards to the day one disaster.

“A lot of money has been spent putting this together – half a billion quid,” he explained.

“It’s no one’s fault this has happened – it’s about rectifying it.

“There’s a lot at stake here.

“It’s potentially extremely dangerous.”

STRIP TRAFFIC COPS EARLY BLAME

The first practice session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was canned after less than 10 minutes after Carlos Sainz hit a loose drain covering, jolting his Ferrari into the air.

It was a devastating blow for the big money event as questions over safety quickly saw racing cancelled on Thursday night local time.

Commentator Karun Chandhok said while the loose drain fitting wasn’t a new issue, it was a serious one for Formula One.

“Street tracks, yes we’ve seen it before,” he said.

“But it’s still the sort of stuff that shouldn’t happen in nowadays with the level of inspection the FIA goes through.

“We need to keep in mind that was on the Strip which has been one of the few bits of the track that was open all day.

“I think they only closed it around 7pm (local time before the 8.30pm practice start) today.

“That was the part that has more traffic running all the way through.

“Perhaps because we’ve had general public, buses and taxis going on, they haven’t had the time to inspect it as well as the bit around the Sphere for example.”

The plan had been to reopen the Strip between the two practice sessions on Thursday night (local time) as well.

Pit lane commentator Ted Kravitz said he believed the drain issue could have still passed full inspection, but later broken up.

“The issue is wouldn’t this show up in any kind of inspections? “ he said.

“It’s actually the frame around it has come up and caused that.

“It’s been dislodged – whether sucked up from the pressure … it’s been damaged in some other way and come loose.

“The manhole was bolted down. But it’s the surrounding furniture that’s around it that has come loose.”

FIRST PRACTICE ABANDONED AFTER STAR’S SHOCK BLOW

It took just nine minutes for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to find himself in a “spot of bother” and forced to park up on the Strip.

But as replays rolled, it was clear a much bigger issue was at play as the first practice was abandoned in devastating scenes.

Commentator Natalie Pinkman said while the decision to end the session felt “anti-climatic”, stewards needed to address the safety issue on track.

“You can physically see the car lift and drop,” she said.

“The issue is with the drain cover. They are having a look at it now.”

A message was clearly visible on the Ferrari’s dash telling Sainz to cut the engine after crossing over something on the Strip.

“Quite literally an unlucky break for Carlos Sainz,” Ted Kravitz said.

“This is a track defect that’s led to a safety concern that’s caused this stoppage.”

Commentator Jenson Button had concerns for Sainz’s wellbeing given the jolt he took.

“The front of the floor has completely opened up where he’s hit something seriously hard … this is a guess, it’s likely that it’s probably a drain or something that’s lifted,” he said.

“It can be very dangerous.

“It was a proper groan from Carlos – the shock through the driver’s spine.

“I hope he’s OK in terms of his back. That’s a very, very aggressive hit on the car.

“You’ll definitely feel that through the spine.”

Button said it was fortunate a yellow flag had been waved at the time – thought to be for that loose drain cover but yet to be confirmed.

“I think the yellow flag was because they saw it was lifted. The yellow flag, there was no reason for it (otherwise),” he said.

“Sainz is really lucky he did lift (for the yellow) – he was going probably 30km/h slower.”

FEARS FOR ‘SLIPPERY’ PRACTICE TRACK

Drivers are ready to head out for their first practice at the Vegas Grand Prix on Friday (AEDT) but they’ve been warned to drive to the conditions.

Formula One commentator Martin Brundle said drivers needed to take extra care in this opening session.

“Lot of energy, lot of people here,” he said.

“It’s going to be super slippery out there.

“New surface, dusty, no support races – I think the drivers are going to have quite an adventure to get up and running.”

Commentator Karun Chandhok said forecasts for Friday showed the rain should stay away.

“The safety car went out in wet conditions last night,” he said.

“The track had puddles in a few places but the track it is dry and the forecast for the moment is for it to stay this way.”

US racing expert Danika Patrick said the first practice needed to be a “recon session” for drivers.

“You’ve got to make no mistakes – just explore the track. Get a feel for these temperatures,” she said.

“They are just cleaning the track off … this is like a recon session.”

The session was only minutes old when Mercedes’ George Russell was heard complaining about the conditions.

“Grip is very low currently,” he told his team radio.

DRIVERS READY FOR BRUTAL JETLAG TEST

It’s going to be a tiring finish to the season for everyone involved, and not just because of some brutal Vegas session times including Practice 2 and qualifying beginning at midnight local.

Vegas is the penultimate race of the season and the drivers and their teams will pack up after Sunday’s race and head straight for Abu Dhabi for the season finale.

That’s a brutal turnaround after what’s already been a gruelling season and many are expecting fatigue to be a factor over the next fortnight.

“When you’re here (Las Vegas), it’s not so much a problem,” said Verstappen. “But then we have to fly to Abu Dhabi, where it’s already 12 hours difference, but then also a completely different time zone.

“Basically, we live on a Japanese time schedule, but then almost a different day. So I don’t really get that. I mean, that is very tiring, and also at the end of this season that we have to do this. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense.”

Veteran Fernando Alonso is also not a fan saying “it’s not OK … but it’s the way it is”, while Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg agreed managing jet lag would be a key factor.

“Some suffer more than others,” he said.

“It’s going to be a challenge, and maybe you’re not going to feel super sharp on Friday or Saturday. But I think it’s same for all of us, and we have to manage and cope the best we can.”

RICCIARDO’S SEASON-ENDING GOALS

In what’s been an eventful season featuring two comebacks — one to the circuit and another from injury — Daniel Ricciardo is looking to finish with a bang.

The Australian has been racing impressively and wants to continue to push his AlphaTauri car for more improvement in Las Vegas, and the season-ending event in Abu Dhabi next week, before his first full season with the team next year.

“I’ve been really happy with the short amount of time we’ve had. I think it hasn’t always shown on paper but even last week (in Brazil) because as painful as it was starting a race essentially a lap down, I think we still showed really good signs of speed and understanding of the car in progress and I’m feeling more and more comfortable,” Ricciardo said.

“So I’m quickly ticking a lot of boxes I wanted and really now it’s to continue that feeling and continue kind of just finding a little bit more out of setup because I think we found quite a bit since Mexico.

“So if we could maybe still find another tenth (of a second) or two, that would be cool.”

Ricciardo also wants to wants to help close the seven-point gap from AlphaTauri to seventh-placed Williams.

“We have a sniff of seventh in Constructors’ … (I’m going to) try to do everything I can to help contribute,” he said.

“I mean looking at the long straights here, you look at Williams and it could be strong for them but I think we’ve got a chance so I’m going to try and make it happen.

“ … I think if we could get seventh, I think no one really thought that was going to happen pre-Austin so that would feel like a bit of a victory for us.”

VEGAS GP SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEDT)

FRIDAY

Practice 1 – 3.30pm

Practice 2 – 7pm

SATURDAY

Practice 3 – 3.30pm

Qualifying – 7pm

SUNDAY

LIVE UPDATES (if the blog does not appear, click here)