Formula One’s flagship race in Las Vegas got off to a typically shaky start when a manhole cover worked loose during the second practice session headed by Lando Norris.
A delay of 19 minutes ensued in two red-flag phases.
Bizarrely, the incident at Turn 17 was not shown on the TV feed. Photographers, however, pictured the scene.
The first interruption lasted 16 minutes before the action restarted only to be suspended permanently three minutes from the end of the scheduled 9pm local-time finish – an echo of notorious problems during first practice on the Nevada race’s debut two years ago, when a drain became detached and ripped into Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Second practice then was pushed back to 4am as the bleary-eyed departed while the problem was rectified.
The race runs over Las Vegas’s normal roads alongside such Strip landmarks as Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and Bellagio Fountains, in the gambling capital of the world, and is prone to glitches that a permanent circuit would avoid.
The FIA, who govern F1 proceedings, offered live updates, saying: ‘Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, Race Control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available. The session has been red-flagged as a precautionary measure and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation.
‘Following inspection, we are confident everything is in a suitable condition to resume the session.’
But not so. Practice restarted briefly before being called off prematurely and for good.
The FIA added: ‘Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted.
‘They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway.’
The Vegas race is F1’s own property – Formula One Management (FOM), who run the sport for American conglomerate Liberty Media, promote it, rather than charge a hosting fee to local authorities. Saudi Arabia, in contrast, one of the biggest payers among 24 venues, give more than £60million a year to host their event.
FOM, rather than the FIA, control the pictures that are shown – or, in this case, not shown about the errant manhole cover – on the world feed.
Qualifying for F1 Academy, the women’s series, later started after a short delay, as the grandstands emptied. This passed off without incident.
Norris could at least be satisfied to finish ahead of second-placed Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli during the truncated F1 session, with his nearest rival in the championship fight, Oscar Piastri, 14th, and Max Verstappen ninth.
Norris leads Piastri by 24 points and Verstappen by 49 with Las Vegas, Qatar (including a sprint race) and Abu Dhabi remaining. There are a maximum of 83 points to be collected.