The Las Vegas Grand Prix first practice of the Formula One race was halted nine minutes into the session Thursday night because Sainz ran over a water valve cover that badly damaged his Ferrari.
Multiple drainage covers needed to be sealed ahead of the second practice, which was originally scheduled for midnight but didn't begin until 2:30 a.m. on Friday. Track organizers an hour earlier had told all fans to leave "due to logistical considerations for our fans and our staff."
It made for a troubling start to the ballyhooed race in which F1 returned to Las Vegas for the first time since it ran in 1981 and 1982 on a course that mostly consisted of the Caesars Palace parking lot. F1 and Liberty were determined to make this year's race an extravaganza, but the hype has been tempered by expensive tickets, exorbitant hotel rates that outpriced many new American fans, and locals simply furious by the months of disruptions to build the course.
Because much of the course is open to traffic during the day, the FIA was not able to inspect the track and approve it for racing until early Thursday morning after the course had been closed overnight. It appeared the initial inspection began around 3:30 a.m; FIA rules require a track to pass inspection one day before cars are on track.
There have been similar incidents, most recently in 2019 at Baku when George Russell ran over a manhole cover in the first practice. In 2016, Nico Rosberg ran over a manhole cover at Monaco and the cover flew up and hit Jenson Button's car, causing extensive damage to Button's McLaren.
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