There has been much concern about the first F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix since 1982.
And then disaster struck early Friday morning during the first practice session.
As the drivers circled the track, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz hit a loose drain cover, sending sparks flying everywhere and causing serious damage to the underbody of the car. The practice session was halted, the drain cover was repaired, and the cars were eventually brought back out. However, Sainz will be penalized on race day. really It was unfair. Once everything was fixed, his car came back out and performed very well.
Here are the accident videos and photos of the damage:
The moment Carlos Sainz hits the manhole cover
#LasVegasGP #f1lasvegas #carlossigns #LasVegasGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/InRv6dUPP3
— Yusuf Tansu (@YusufTanu2) November 17, 2023
The session was cancelled. Watch in slow motion what happened to Carlos Sainz. pic.twitter.com/ktE2SMAsEZ
— CJ Fogler’s account may or may not be noteworthy (@cjzero) November 17, 2023
CCTV footage of Sainz hitting FP1 drain cover #F1 #LasVegasGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/VV5O3fmqBT
— Jin (@Johnners96) November 17, 2023
Carlos Sainz driving over a drain cover #VegasGP https://t.co/XARzXklUxf pic.twitter.com/myx4uV1VEE
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) November 17, 2023
The disastrous start to F1 in Las Vegas, Sainz’s car was damaged when a drain cover came loose during practice. The same thing happened during practice sessions in Azerbaijan in 2019 and Malaysia in 2017. Thank goodness no one was hurt.
pic.twitter.com/sD3pcwmP5R— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) November 17, 2023
Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was so badly damaged that you could see the road through the cockpit
(picture) @tgrunner) pic.twitter.com/kfJkeO1c3A
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
Carlos Sainz’s floor looks seriously damaged
pic.twitter.com/IrQ2rwJNho
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
It was really a disaster everywhere.
