Las Vegas Grand Prix Disrupted by Water Valve Cover Incident and Safety Concerns
F1’s highly anticipated race in Las Vegas got off to a rocky start as the first practice session was disrupted by a loose water valve cover. Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari suffered significant damage after striking the cover just eight minutes into FP1, forcing track workers to remove all 30 covers around the 6.2km circuit. This led to a 2h30m delay of FP2, and fans and hospitality guests were removed from the event due to limitations on logistics and labor laws.
In response to the disruption, F1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix released statements explaining the situation. However, rather than offering an apology or refund, fans who only held a Thursday ticket were given $200 vouchers to spend in the event’s online merchandise store.
Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm provided more details on why fans were asked to leave the event at 1:30am, citing concerns about public safety and security officials, transportation employees, and hospitality staff.
“We know this was disappointing. We hope our fans will understand based on this explanation that we had to balance many interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend,” Wilm stated in the released statement.
Despite the disruptions, the event organizers expressed their commitment to providing a safe and entertaining race weekend for all.