The second Free Practice session for the 2023 F1 Las Vegas Grand
Prix is set to begin at 10:00 UK time – a delay of two hours. A
water cover valve failed in FP1, leading to Carlos Sainz and
Esteban Ocon suffering severe damage to their cars by running over
the drain. Sainz damaged the monocoque, power unit and battery in
the destroyed chassis, while Ocon’s Alpine A523 machine was changed
successfully by the team after he collided with the drain on his
in-lap just eight minutes into the session. The remainder was
cancelled with the FIA, F1 and engineers inspecting the track to
find solutions. This has led to a delay of FP2 from its original
time of 00:00 local time, with the running now set to get underway
for an extended 90 minutes at 02:00 local. The track action must be
finished by 4am – when the track is required to be handed back over
to Las Vegas residents. “We are currently expecting around two
hours of delay from the originally scheduled start time for FP2 in
order for the local circuit engineering team to carry out the
necessary works on the track,” explained an FIA spokesperson. “The
session will be extended to 90 minutes.” However, F1’s rules state
that all teams have to accept to run a second practice session if
more than three hours have elapsed from the first one. With Sainz’s
car being completely destroyed, it is therefore unlikely Ferrari
would agree to this.
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