It’s safe to say that the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a supposed new crown jewel in the global F1 schedule, could not have gotten off to a worse start on Thursday night.
Fans in attendance for a late night practice session saw all of nine minutes of action before the session was delayed and eventually cancelled after a concrete frame around a water valve cover came loose and caused massive damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Formula 1 was forced to inspect all of the other water valve covers around the circuit and make necessary improvements, which delayed the start of the second free practice session significantly.
The Las Vegas schedule – which is already arguably the worst of any race for American fans during the entire season – got even worse. Instead of a 3:00 a.m. ET start time for FP2, the session was delayed until 4:30 ET – and because of the delay, ticketed fans in attendance were removed from the grandstands and hospitality areas.
Local police cleared the grandstand areas just before the start of the session – after fans had sat and waited for hours. According to the FIA, the decision was made due to “logistical concerns.”
Via The Athletic:
“Given the lateness of the hour and the logistical concerns regarding the safe movement of fans and employees out of the circuit, LVGP made the difficult decision to close the fan zones prior to the beginning of Free Practice 2.”
Last-minute ticket prices for each Las Vegas session have been plummeting as it’s become clear that F1 greatly overestimated demand, but fans who arrived on Thursday intending to see practice could be out a huge sum of money. In 2022, Thursday practice ticket prices were selling for more than $900 dollars.
Fans were understandably upset: