FIA official statement
The FIA has issued an official statement and reports: “The inspection has shown that the concrete frame around one manhole cover has failed. We now have to check all the other manhole covers, which will take some time.”
“We will discuss with the local athletics team how long it will take to resolve the issue and adjust the schedule accordingly,” he said.
By the way, Martin Brundle can’t imagine driving again today. “That’s all for today,” predicts the expert Darling.
Vasseur: You don’t have to mix things
The Ferrari team boss calmed down a bit and explained that this weekend’s show was “mega.” But that doesn’t mean you can neglect the sports area because of it.
You can definitely put on a good show and at the same time be a good sport, he makes it clear. Brown talks about an “unfortunate” incident, but one that has also happened on other routes in the past.
And Vowles also defends the FIA and explains that the forces that the cars had on the track were poorly calculated in advance. But that will be corrected now.
There are no questions about the accident.
This is precisely why press conferences currently have such a bad reputation: moderator Tom Clarkson asks a lot, but practically nothing, about the accident. And of course that is the topic that interests everyone right now.
Fortunately, the panel is now open to questions from journalists present.
Vasseur pissed off
The head of the Ferrari team starts at the PK and reveals that, in addition to the chassis, the engine of Sainz’s car was also damaged. The entire situation is “unacceptable,” Vasseur makes clear.
When moderator Tom Clarkson tries to broach the topic of the Las Vegas event, Vasseur immediately blocks him. He is not the right person to contact for this today.
As Clarkson still won’t give up, Vasseur completely breaks off the conversation soon after and says it would be better to ask Wolff or another team leader a question.
Someone is really pissed off and (understandably) doesn’t fancy the first part of the PK, which is usually just a pure PR show…
That used to be an underground…
And here you have a look at the underside of Sainz’s car after the accident. Or what’s left of it…
Video
By the way, here is also a video of the incident recorded with a trail camera.
PK of team leaders
Let’s see if we can get some new information at the team bosses’ press conference. This starts in five minutes with the following guests:
Toto Wolff (Mercedes)
James Vowles (Williams)
Zak Brown (McLaren)
Frederic Vasseur (Ferrari)
As always, the most important statements can be found here on the ticker.
Any other problem?
the colleagues of ESPN report that there is probably more than one problem on the route. Other manhole covers would also have been affected. So it will probably take some time to repair everything…
How flexible are you?
In this case, it’s actually an advantage that there are no secondary races this weekend. Helmut Marko explains in Darling: “Thank God there are no support races and we are unlimited in terms of time.”
In theory, you can postpone or extend sessions as you wish. “I just hope that we can solve this quickly from a safety point of view, so that we can at least do one more training session,” Marko said.
Regarding the Sainz incident he says: “That could have had fatal consequences.” That is, if the loose part could have been thrown and thus become a projectile…
Whats Next?
As is well known, Martin Brundle believes that it is no longer possible to drive today. But if that’s the case, then FT2 could be extended by 30 minutes to make up for lost time.
“We have to be flexible,” explains Red Bull team boss Christian Horner Darling. It is also possible that the schedule will be modified on Saturday if driving is no longer possible today.
But let’s wait and see for now. “Hopefully it won’t take that long,” Horner said.
Insufficient track inspection?
Remember Christian Nimmervoll’s column from yesterday? Our editor-in-chief has already written there:
“It all starts with the inspection of the track. FIA race director Niels Wittich should have given the green light on Tuesday, but when he toured the track with his team, in many places it was not yet finished or in the necessary conditions for This allowed Wittich to give the green light to the Grand Prix with a clear conscience.
“So the inspection, or so they say in the paddock, had to be repeated on Wednesday. Strictly speaking, yes, that’s a bit complicated, it wasn’t even sorted out at the time of the grand opening ceremony (Formula 1 is now making an Olympic movement) so that the Grand Prix can be held.”
Of course, it’s not clear if there really is a connection. But it shows. You can find the full column here!
Guilty?
Is this the reason for the problems here? Presumably. But even if that were the case, there would still be the question of whether the rest of the route is safe. The FIA should be able to guarantee this before FT2 starts.
Ocon’s car was also damaged
It wasn’t just a Ferrari that was hit: an Alpine was also literally destroyed on the track. Esteban Ocon needs a new chassis. This is not only annoying for the equipment, but is also a cost factor.
Of course, especially in times when costs are limited, something like that cannot be used at all.
Manhole cover problem
The FIA has now officially confirmed that it is a problem with a manhole cover. Apparently this cannot be resolved so quickly, which is why the session has been canceled completely.
What is also possible: you may now want to recheck the entire route and not just the place where the Ferrari broke down.
By the way, we hear that Ferrari is in quite a bit of trouble. The mechanics now have a lot of repairs to do before FT2, which is scheduled to start at 9:00 am our time.
FT1: Session aborted
FIA quick decision: session cannot continue. As feared, there is a major problem with the route. This is not how Formula 1 imagined its return to Las Vegas…
FT1: What happened to Sainz?
Ferrari is innocent: the replay shows that Sainz missed something. Then the car broke down. The question now is: Was it “just” a bump?
In one circuit, for example, it could have been a manhole cover that may not have been properly secured. And if that were the case, then we would have to prepare for a longer red phase…
Get all the latest information in the session’s live ticker!
FT1: Red flag
It was a brief pleasure, after less than nine minutes we got the first red flag. However, there was no accident, Sainz simply rolled away. A technical problem at Ferrari.
By the way, except Sargeant, all the drivers have been on the track at least once. Leclerc is currently ahead with a 1:40.909. But this will be much faster over the weekend!
Because the track will improve with each lap. As there are no support races, the track at FT1 is still completely green. Then she will be faster and faster until the race.
Get all the latest information in the session’s live ticker!