Las Vegas Grand Prix practice cancelled in farcical start to F1’s newest race

Kieran Jackson
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

The Las Vegas Grand Prix started in farcical fashion on Thursday night as first practice was cancelled due to a drain cover on track.

FP1 had only been going for eight minutes before Carlos Sainz’s car grounded to a halt on the long straight on the Vegas strip.

Replays show his Ferrari went over a bump – potentially a drain cover – before it stopped, due to floor damage.

Shortly after, the stewards announced the session would not resume and are now in a race against time to fix the issue on the surface before second practice at midnight, local time.

The message from race control said: “Session will not resume due to track repairs.”

More to follow...