Fans already had low expectations for the Las Vegas grand prix this year, but to say that f1 failed to deliver on these expectations would be a huge understatement. Drain covers coming off, unfair penalties, delays and fans not being let into the track, all while the eyes of the world are pinned on formula one. There’s a lot to unpack here from the fist day of the 2023 las Vegas grand prix.

A drain brings an early end to Q1!

The picture above shows a manhole, with the cover having been ripped off when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ran over the cover on the main straight, which badly damaged his car as he came to a halt at the side of the circuit. “We are checking the damage caused to Carlos’ car when he hit the manhole cover, which seems quite extensive,” Ferrari reported. CCTV footage of the track shows a huge puff off smoke coming from the car followed by a shower of sparks as the cover stuck the car.

A similar incident also happened with Esteban Ocon however he managed to continue, with the team saying that they need to replace the chassis on his car.

Sainz Penalty

The damage to Sainz Ferrari meant that the team have had to replace the engine for his car meaning that he has now exceeded the limit of allowed engines and has been handed a brutal 10 place grid penalty for Sundays race. Ferrari, along with the fans have protested this penalty as it feels like Ferrari are paying for the organizers mistakes. The only positive for Ferrari is that in fp2 they were 1st and 2nd fastest, with Charles Leclerc topping the timing sheets. However this will do little to brighten the mood at Ferrari with team principle Fred Vassuer making his frustrations clear during the team principle interview after fp1 calling the incident “unacceptable”.

The Fans

However Ferrari weren’t the ones who suffered the most today. The crazy prices for tickets to the grand prix is well documented with average 3-day ticket prices being at around 1,600$, by far the most expensive of any race this year. So imagine how the fans felt when they were told that fp1 would be ending after only eight minutes and that fp2 would be delayed by almost two hours. So when the fans finally arrived to the track, at four in the morning, imagine their disappointment when they were told that because of the long delays, staff and stewards came to the end of their shifts and so fans wouldn’t be allowed into the track.  Fans were further angered when they were moved on from areas outside the track where they could still watch the action through black sheets which were meant to block the view. The fans understandably tried to get in but were threatened with trespassing charges by the las Vegas PD unless they left the circuit. Due to the high prices a lot of fans would’ve bought one day tickets hoping to see f1 cars flying down the las Vegas strip, but instead they were forcibly removed by the local police department as a result of the poor management of the race. Some fans didn’t even manage to see the short burst of action in the first practice session. A newly-constructed pedestrian bridge to the T-Mobile Fan Zone underneath the Sphere reportedly failed, forcing fans to take a much longer and congested route through the Venetian Hotel, causing them to miss the start of the session.

What Next?

In rare good news, fp2 went by without much hassle, apart from the empty grandstands of course and the two hour delay. But on track things looked good as drivers got to grips with the new circuit with the session being extended to 90 minutes due the short running in fp1. As mentioned earlier, Ferrari looked fast in this session, finishing 1st and 2nd ahead of a resurgent Fernando Alonso who will be coming into this weekend of the back of a well earned p3 at Interlagos last time out. Behind him came Sergio Perez ahead of his teammate max Verstappen who got racy with Charles Leclerc coming down the main straight. Alpha Romeos Valtteri Bottas split the two redbulls to finish a very fine p6. Nico Hulkenberg also impressed in the Haas with a time quick enough for 7th. Behind him came came Stroll, Hamilton, Albon, Norris, Russel, Magnussun, Piastry, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda, Zhou, Riccardo, and Logan Sargeant in what is his 3rd home race this year.

As f1 is constantly adding in new tracks such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Miami and now Las Vegas, all clearly with the goal of making money and not for the good of the sport, we can only hope that this disaster of a Thursday is a one off and that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

As always stay tuned for updates on all the sessions over the weekend as well as updates on the F3 Macau grand prix.