The F1 weekend in Las Vegas got off to a nightmarish start when the first practice sessions on Friday had to be stopped due to a detached pit cover.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz drove off the manhole cover. The Spaniard’s car broke down. Also Alpine’s by Esteban Ocon there was damage to the car. At the moment of interruption, only ten minutes had passed during the exercises.
Ferrari team manager Frederic Vasseur boiled over at the team managers’ press conference after practice.
– The situation is that the monocoque, engine and battery were completely damaged. I think this cannot be rejected, Vasseur opened up.
Experienced F1 reporter and host of press conferences Tom Clarkson tried after this to ask about the “bigger picture” around the competition.
Naturally, Vasseur was not interested in talking about positives, but interrupted Clarkson’s question.
– This cost us a feature. Carlos’s training went awry, Vasseur used using the power word.
Motorsport media Autosport published a picture of the situation where Carlos Sainz’s car broke down.
You can also see and hear the big damage in the viewer’s video published about the situation.
Vasseur stated that Sainz will not get to the second practice at all, because two-thirds of the car has to be changed.
– Okay, a show is a show. Everything is going well, but I think this was unacceptable from the Formula Ones, said Vasseur.
Tom Clarkson still tried to ask Vasseur about Ferrari’s entire season in general. The Frenchman is in his first year as Ferrari team manager.
Mercedes manager Toto Wolff too intervened in a violent opening.
– You would be upset, Toto, in my situation, Vasseur acknowledged to the boss of the rival team.
Vasseur was happy to hear that the question of the entire season would be the last. Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas however, the former Alfa Romeo boss ultimately did not answer the question, instead asking Clarkson to ask Wolff the following questions.
– I have known Fred for 20 years. You’re causing him more problems, Wolff laughed at Clarkson.
Wolff lashed out at critics
The FIA announced that after the incident at the Las Vegas track, all pit covers on the 6.2 kilometer long track must be checked. The investigations dragged on, but the FIA later announced that the second practice would start at 12 o’clock Finnish time. Because of that, the start time has also been extended by half an hour.
Since the first trainings were interrupted early, the second trainings exceptionally last 90 minutes. The second practices are actually run at night in Las Vegas, as they start at 2:00 a.m. local time.
Pit covers coming off is not an exceptional thing in formula one on street tracks. For example, in 2019 in Azerbaijan of George Russell Williams was injured by a detached manhole cover.
However, the problems come at an unfortunate time for the Formula Ones. The Las Vegas competition has been buzzing for a long time. The race arrangements are exceptional. Las Vegas has even been described as a race that could determine the future of F1.
The last time it was run in Las Vegas was in 1982, when Keke Rosberg also secured the first Nordic F1 championship in history.
– Now the spectacle in Las Vegas is quite different compared to that. F1 is a big investor this weekend, Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh on Thursday referred to how normally the race organizers pocket huge sums for their access to the F1 race calendar.
Now, however, Liberty Media, which owns the commercial rights to the series, has poured up to 500 million dollars itself into the arrangements and construction of the race weekend.
– This competition is part of the conquest of America by the Formula Ones. In that respect, the Vegas race is a big spectacle and a very important and decisive thing for the future of formula one in the important American market, Mildh emphasized.
Toto Wolff was asked how F1 plans to handle the well cover issue. The Austrian boss bristled at the question.
– This is completely ridiculous. How can you talk bad about an event that sets new standards for everything? Wolff asked and was surprised why they were talking about “some damn manhole cover”.
According to Wolff, Liberty Media has done a wonderful job of growing the F1 series, and there should be no complaints about the manhole cover.
– Give thanks to the people who have been organizing this competition. “They’ve made this sport bigger than it’s ever been,” Wolff said.
– The car broke down. It’s really sad. For Carlos, the situation could have been dangerous. The FIA and track officials must analyze how this does not happen again. But let’s talk about a black eye for the sport on Thursday night? No one even looks at this in European time. Don’t bother…, Wolff continued.