The first night of track action at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix wasn’t all without a hitch.
The issue is currently being addressed by F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali and Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm.
Carlos Sainz Jr. crashed into a manhole cover in the first minutes of FP1, causing significant damage to his SF-23. As a result, race officials issued a red light for the session and workers scanned the track to ensure the road was safe for drivers. FP1 was ultimately canceled and repair work took two and a half hours, so FP2 did not start until 2:30 local time.
But that was after security and support personnel had finished their shifts, so the stands were empty, and many fans waited less than 10 minutes until midnight to watch the actual game. Afterwards, a number of drivers, including Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo, spoke up for the fans and their inconvenience.
In a joint statement released Friday, both Willm and Domenicali addressed safety concerns at the track, the fan experience, and the steps they are taking to address both issues.
“Last night, approximately nine minutes into the first free practice session, a water valve cover broke on the Las Vegas Boulevard straight. At that time, the FIA, which is responsible for the safe operation of activities at the circuit, The session was stopped to check the cover and inspect the course. Things like this happen from time to time on other courses in other races around the world.
“A precautionary measure was taken to remove all water valve covers throughout the truck and fill them with sand and asphalt. The entire process from problem identification to repair took approximately five hours. This decision was made out of an abundance of caution as the safety of our drivers, trackside marshals, officials and fans is always our top priority. We would like to thank the contractors for their work.”
Next they turned to the fan experience.
“Now let’s move on to the fan experience.
“The delay in starting the second practice session from midnight to 2:30 a.m. Pacific Time posed a risk to our employees and fans.
“We have made the decision to close fan areas under LVGP jurisdiction at 1:30 a.m. Pacific Time and send fans home.
“Let me explain why.
“First, we were concerned about our public safety personnel who have been on the job for a long time and are being asked to work over the next three days. We would like to thank the Clark County Metro Police Department, Department of Public Works, and other public safety agencies for their assistance.
“Second, we were concerned about the transportation employees responsible for transporting fans to their hotels. Federal law limited the hours that buses could be operated legally and safely.
“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and restock guest areas to ensure an optimal experience for our fans over the coming days.
“We know this was disappointing. Based on this briefing, we would like to acknowledge that we had to balance a number of interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience throughout the race weekend.” I hope that everyone can understand this.
“We have all attended events such as concerts, matches and even other F1 races, only to have them canceled due to reasons such as weather or technical problems. I hope people understand.”
The statement concludes:
“So how are you going to deal with this tonight?
“We have been working throughout the night to adjust our security, transportation and hospitality staffing plans to ensure we can function even with an extended race schedule and provide our fans with the best possible experience. Ta.”
The statement, while welcome, will likely be of little consolation to the thousands of fans who had limited action Thursday night into Friday morning. There’s still time to get the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix back on track, but the event got off to a rocky start.
We hope that FP3 and qualifying will improve the experience for everyone involved.
