Formula One’s gamble to bring the sport back to Las Vegas backfired on a shambolic opening night in Sin City.
After months of build-up to an event – billed by F1 executives as the greatest show on earth – practice was abandoned after just eight minutes.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the key questions surrounding the farcical opening to this weekend’s maiden race on the Las Vegas strip.
What happened?
As Carlos Sainz approached 200mph on the Las Vegas Boulevard, a water valve cover broke free from the tarmac and tore into the underbelly of his Ferrari.
The force of the impact visibly jolted Sainz in the cockpit and, amid a flurry of white smoke and orange sparks, disabled his machine.
Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session, but not before Esteban Ocon also struck the debris.
The one-hour running, which began at 8:30pm local time was suspended at 8:38pm. At 8:49pm it was announced it would not be resumed.
Were the drivers hurt?
Both Sainz and Ocon escaped without injury – but their cars were severely damaged. A giant whole tore through Sainz’s Ferrari leaving his mechanics facing an extensive repair job. Ocon required a new chassis, but he was able to take part in second practice.
How did the FIA respond?
All 30 manhole covers along the 1.2-mile 210mph Las Vegas Boulevard were inspected. The covers were removed, and the holes filled with concrete and quick-drying resin. The FIA’s standard procedure is to seal or weld the manholes but that process failed in Las Vegas.
Second practice had originally been scheduled to start at midnight local time. But it was pushed back to 2am, and then 2:15am before the cars eventually rolled out at 2:30am in front of empty grandstands, with fan areas closed at 1.30am. A two-hour window is required to reopen the public roads at 6am in Sin City, meaning the running had to cease at 4am.
Has anything like this happened before?
The problems of loose manhole covers at street venues is not a new one. Jenson Button struck a dislodged drain in practice in Monaco in 2016, while George Russell also ran over a drain cover in Azerbaijan four years ago.
But the embarrassing failure in Las Vegas comes 48 hours after a Superbowl-like opening ceremony, and a day after triple world champion Max Verstappen called the staging of the Grand Prix – the first here in four decades and maiden event on the strip – as “99 per cent show, and one per cent sport”.
What did they say?
A furious Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur labelled the chaos as “unacceptable” following millions of dollars of damage to Sainz’s car. But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff launched a wild and ill-judged defence.
“This is not a black eye (for F1),” said Wolff. “This is nothing. We are on a Thursday night – a free practice session that we are not doing – and nobody is going to talk about that tomorrow.
“It is completely ridiculous. How can you even dare to talk back about an event that sets the new standard? You are speaking about a f****** drain cover that has been undone. It is nothing!”
Russell will not 'sulk' about losing position to Hamilton as Mercedes struggle again
George Russell will not "sulk" after giving up sixth place to team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where Mercedes failed to arrest their slide.
Hamilton and Russell finished sixth and seventh respectively as Max Verstappen held off a charging Lando Norris for his third successive victory at the Imola event.
Russell was ahead of Hamilton as his tyres began to wear late in the race, leading Mercedes to call him in for a pit stop and bring him out ahead of eighth-placed Sergio Perez.
That ensured Hamilton finished above his team-mate for a second straight race, having failed to top him in any of the first five races of 2024.
Russell refused to criticise the team's strategy after the race, though he lamented their continued struggles with their W15 car.
"You're never going to be happy with P6 and P7," Russell told Sky Sports.
"At the end of the day, as a team we scored an extra point. I lost my position to Lewis but I'm not going to sulk over losing a P6."
Asked to explain the decision, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "[Russell's] lap times were getting slower and slower, and our forecast saw he was not going to make it to the end and we didn't want to lose the position to Perez.
"Lewis would have probably taken him anyway. The point being that we are racing for P6 and P7 and wanted to keep the Red Bull behind. It was a safety call."
Russell is currently seventh in the drivers' championship standings with Hamilton in eighth, with neither driver managing a podium finish so far this year.
McLaren have emerged as the foremost challengers to Red Bull and Ferrari in recent weeks, leaving Mercedes marooned in a disappointing fourth place in the team standings.
"This is where we are right now, a little bit in no man's land behind the Ferraris and McLarens but ahead of the midfield," Russell said of their struggles.
"Everyone is still super motivated, the morale isn't dropping at all, which is quite inspiring to say. Everyone is trying to make this work and improve it."
Norris excited to see McLaren challenging Red Bull
Lando Norris is excited to see McLaren emerging as the foremost challengers to Red Bull, after he narrowly missed out on a second straight win at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Norris started second at Imola on Sunday as a grid penalty dropped his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to fifth.
It initially looked like Norris might face a battle for second as Charles Leclerc closed on him, but he found extraordinary pace late on as leader Max Verstappen started to struggle.
Verstappen complained of grip problems over team radio as Norris drew within 0.7 seconds of the world champion by the final lap, but he was just unable to pass him in a tense finish.
"It hurts me to say it, but one or two more laps and I think I would have had him," Norris told Sky Sports.
"It's tough. I just lost out too much to Max in the beginning. He was stronger in the first stint.
"We are at a point now where we can say we are in a position with Ferrari and Red Bull. We have to get used to it. We are fighting for first and second now.
"It is still a surprise to say we are disappointed not to win, but it is what we should start to expect."
Norris has now managed four podium finishes in the last five races, and he sits fourth in the drivers' championship standings, six points behind Sergio Perez in third.
He finished second at the Chinese Grand Prix last month, then beat Verstappen to claim his first race win in Miami in early May, benefitting from effective upgrades to McLaren's MCL38 car.
"Hopefully, it continues like that because it's exciting, it's tough, and it gets you excited every weekend, so I'm looking forward to the next few," he said.
"We also had a second in China, so we've had second, first, second, and I think that’s a good sign."
Verstappen holds off Norris for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix victory
Max Verstappen held off a charging Lando Norris on the final lap to get back to winning ways at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday.
Having equalled Ayrton Senna's record of eight successive pole positions on Saturday, the three-time world champion initially looked set for a comfortable victory.
It looked like third might be the best Norris could manage, but the Briton found great pace late on and ultimately challenged for the win, as Verstappen expressed frustration over Red Bull team radio, saying he was struggling for grip when turning.
Norris pulled within 0.7 seconds of Verstappen on the final lap, but he was ultimately unable to follow up his win at the Miami Grand Prix last time out as the drivers' championship leader clung on.
Charles Leclerc captured third for Ferrari in front of an enthusiastic Italian crowd, with Oscar Piastri finishing fourth after his grid penalty meant he started the race fifth instead of second.
Carlos Sainz was fifth ahead of Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, with Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez only managing eighth, meaning he now trails Leclerc in the standings.
Data debrief: Verstappen follows Schumacher
On Saturday, Verstappen became the first driver with back-to-back poles at Imola since Michael Schumacher in 2002 and 2003. One day later, he became just the second driver to win on three successive visits to the track, after the German achieved that feat between 2002 and 2004.
Verstappen is also into the top six in the all-time F1 charts for podium finishes, his 104th here moving him ahead of Kimi Raikkonen outright in the rankings.
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