Ferrari boss rages at F1 after ‘unacceptable’ loose drain cover wrecks Carlos Sainz’s car
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was scathing of Formula 1 after Carlos Sainz’s car was substantially damaged mere minutes into practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
F1’s newest race started in farcical fashion on Thursday night after first practice was stopped following just eight minutes due to a loose drain cover on the Vegas strip section of the circuit.
Sainz’s Ferrari car drove over the manhole at more than 200mph, causing damage to the floor. The Spaniard stopped his car on the side of the track.
The session was red-flagged and Vasseur labelled the incident “unacceptable” in the team principals’ press conference afterwards.
“What he [Carlos] said was ‘I hit something on track.’ He didn’t know exactly what it was,” said Vasseur.
“The situation is that we’ve changed the monocoque, the engine, the battery – I think it’s just unacceptable.
“We’ve f***ed up the session for Carlos. He won’t be part of FP2 for sure.
“We have to change the chassis of the car. I think it’s just unacceptable from F1 today.”
There is now a race against time to fix the issue on the surface so cars can get out on track on Thursday night. The FIA announced that second practice would be delayed beyond the original start time of midnight (8am GMT).
