Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm have explained the issues that occurred on the opening night of track running, but not apologized, saying, “It happens, and we hope people will understand.”
FP1 had been running for just eight minutes when it had to be red flagged because both Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon hit a loose water valve cover on the Strip and sustained significant damage. The session was then canceled, with track repairs taking over four hours and leading to FP2 eventually starting at 2:30am local time and being extended to 90 minutes.
Fans who had stayed throughout the delay were then removed from the circuit at 1:30am local time — with little notice — due to staffing and logistical issues, and the joint statement from the CEOs of the sport and the race explain why.
Read the full statement below:
“Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans,” the statement read. “Responsibility for the oversight of a Formula 1 event falls with Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder of the sport, the FIA as the regulatory body, and the local promoter, in this case the Las Vegas Grand Prix. This is important for those who are new to racing to understand.
“Last night, approximately nine minutes into the first Free Practice session, a water valve cover broke on the straight on Las Vegas Boulevard. At that time the FIA, which is responsible for the safe running of the activities on the circuit, stopped the session so that we could look at the broken water valve cover and inspect the track. This has happened on occasion at other tracks at other races around the world.
“The precautionary step of removing all of the water valve covers on the entire track and filling them with sand and asphalt was undertaken. The entire process, from determination of the issue to remediation, took approximately five hours. The decision to remediate in this way was taken out of an abundance of caution and because the safety of drivers, trackside marshals and officials and our fans is always our highest priority. We thank the contractors who worked expeditiously to resolve the situation so quickly.
“As a result, the first Free Practice ended early. We moved ahead with the second Free Practice session at approximately 2:30 a.m. PT for 90 minutes.
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“The decision to run the second Free Practice session at 2:30 a.m. PT was supported by all parties to ensure the sporting integrity of the remainder of the event.
“We would like to thank the drivers, mechanics and all the teams for their patience and commitment last night to ensure that we could run the session successfully.
“Now, let us turn to the fan experience.
“The delay in the start of the second Free Practice session from midnight to 2:30 a.m. PT created risks for our employees and our fans.
“We made the decision to close the fan areas that are under LVGP’s purview at 1:30 a.m. PT and send fans home. Let us explain why.
“First, we were concerned about our public safety and security officials who had been in service for a long time and who are being asked to work for the next three nights. We thank Clark County’s Metro.
“Second, we were concerned about our transportation employees who are responsible for driving our fans back to hotels. By Federal law, they were bumping up against the amount of time they can legally and safely drive buses.
“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and resupply our guest areas to ensure that the fan experience is optimal for everyone over the coming days.
“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.
“We have all been to events like concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races that have been cancelled because of factors like weather or technical issues. It happens, and we hope people will understand.
“So how will we address this tonight? We have worked overnight to adjust our staffing plans across security, transportation and hospitality to ensure that we can function and serve fans with the best possible experience in the event of an extended race schedule.
“We are excited about the racing today and thank our entire team and our fans for their support. We know this is going to be a great event. With that, let’s get back to racing.”