unsealing of a manhole, testing without an audience at 2:30 a.m., “uninteresting” track… Nothing is going well at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

This is a first which is far from a success. It only took eight minutes for a first incident to occur on the street circuit of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Friday November 17. Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was damaged by the loosening of a manhole cover and the first free practice session could not resume. The next session was then delayed for several hours while the problem was resolved. While the sporting interest of this new Grand Prix on the calendar is questioned, it could turn into a fiasco.

In the city that never sleeps, pilots must learn to sleep late, very late. After the incident during the first free practice session, the following session was postponed to the middle of the night, giving the technical teams time to remove the manhole covers and block them with cement and resin, which will probably have to be removed once the Grand Prix is ​​over. Free practice 2 therefore began at 2:30 a.m., and without an audience, since spectators were asked to evacuate the stands and VIP areas at 1:30 a.m., after having seen the cars driving for only a few minutes.

“It’s 99% show and 1% sport”

Carlos Sainz, despite the numerous damages to his Ferrari, was however able to participate in this second free practice session after major repairs. “We completely damaged the monocoque, the engine and the battery. It cost us a fortune, it is unacceptable“, said Fred Vasseur, director of the Italian team. For his multiple changes of parts beyond the quota of new parts authorized by the FIA, the Spanish driver will not obtain an exemption and will receive 10 penalty places on the grid.

In addition to these setbacks, the circuit is far from unanimous. Triple world champion Max Verstappen does not mince his words. “It’s 99% show and 1% sport”declared the Dutchman at a press conference, not satisfied with the circuit, traced in the heart of the Strip, the avenue of casinos, with long straight lines. “It’s not very interesting, it lacks turns”, said the Red Bull driver. For the British George Russell (Mercedes), “it will certainly not be an emblematic circuit in terms of layout”. “I’m not really sure how good the race will be as there are some big, long straights, but as we all have minimal downforce the drag effect won’t be that great”he added.

The support of the cars on the track could in fact be affected by the low temperatures, since qualifying (12 a.m.) and the race (10 p.m.) are scheduled at night. Warming up the tires could therefore be more complicated, especially as there are relatively few turns to warm them up. “The only thing we didn’t initially consider was that it gets very, very cold at night, admitted former F1 sporting and technical director Ross Brawn on the TalkSport podcast. So it can get very cold and, of course, running cars at these temperatures can become a challenge.”. While it is generally between 5 and 10 degrees in Las Vegas at this time of year and at these late hours, organizers are for the moment relieved to see that temperatures are rising above seasonal norms, between 10 and 15 degrees.