Charles Leclerc fastest as FP1 in F1 Las Vegas GP ends after just nine minutes of running post a red flag stoppage for Carlos Sainz.
The FP1 session in F1 Las Vegas GP ran for only nine minutes before the FIA called it off post the red flag situation. There was already yellow flag waved when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz bottomed down on a drain cover and his car immediately shut off on The Strip.
The FIA, therefore, ended the FP1 session early to inspect the circuit especially the drain covers around the track. Sainz was not the only to face the trouble as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon had his chassis damaged too after bottoming on a drain cover.
Had the session was to continue, Ocon wasn’t to continue, with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu also complained about drain cover hit. On the standings side, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way with a 1m40.909s ahead of the two Haas cars in the Top 3.
Nico Hulkenberg was second from Kevin Magnussen, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth. Ocon slotted in fifth before stopping with Sainz in seventh behind Mercedes’ George Russell, while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in eighth.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was ninth from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in the Top 10, as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly slotted in 11th from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, Guanyu and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Top 15 lap time setters.
Here’s the results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1725376622319091818?s=20
UPDATE: The FIA released a statement regarding inspection of all the drain covers around the Las Vegas GP circuit following the early end of FP1. “Following inspection, it was the concrete frame around a manhole cover that has failed,” it said.
“We now need to check all of the other manhole covers which will take some time – we will be discussing with the local circuit engineering team about the length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any resultant changes to the schedule.”
