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Formula 1 fans have reportedly been threatened with trespassing orders by police as the Las Vegas Grand Prix descended into an unmitigated disaster.
Farcical scenes on the opening day of practice on the Vegas street circuit has turned the locals against the sport — at a time when residents were already furious at the impact it has had around the party city.
The greatest slap of them all came at 1.30am local time when spectators were ordered to leave — one hour before the second free practice session began at 2.30am local time.
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Fans had already waited for hours at the track after being able to watch just eight minutes of the opening session before the event exploded when Carlos Sainz’ Ferrari struck a manhole cover.
It was chaos as the event’s engineering team attempted to fix holes all over the track.
When P2 was finally able to get underway — it concluded at 4am local time.
The sounds of the screaming engines would have made it near impossible for locals to sleep.
Even the die-hard fans that stayed around hoping to watch FP2 got sucker-punched when organisers ordered them out.
In the early hours of the morning the Las Vegas Grand Prix released a statement that said nothing about refunds or compensation for fans.
“Due to logistical considerations for our fans and staff, we made the determination that we will be closing all Las Vegas Grand Prix fan areas at 1.30am,” the statement said.
“We look forward to welcoming fans back later today for exciting free practice 3 and qualifying sessions.”
The cherry on top for some astonished fans came when police patrolled the circuit and moved on spectators.
According to fan claims on Reddit, spectators were threatened with “trespassing charges” if they did not obey the order.
One Twitter user posted: “Las Vegas PD [police department] and private security are kicking people off of every potential viewing spot.”
It was Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo who was among the first to apologise to fans.
The AlphaTauri driver had already gone public with his concerns about the ticket prices at the event.
“Obviously, now that we’ve done a session, it feels more worth it. But at 1:30am (it) didn’t feel worth it. Everyone was like let’s just do this tomorrow,” he said, according to motorsport.com.
“I obviously don’t know the ins and outs with track availability and obviously it’s not a conventional circuit, so it’s not like we can just rock up here in the morning. I’m sure there are some limitations that we are a little bit at the mercy of.
“The grandstand situation, obviously that’s a bummer. But I guess if we didn’t do FP2, then it probably would have gotten scrapped, and we just would have gone into FP3.
“So, at least like this, maybe the fans got to the very least watch it on TV. We try to be positive. But yeah, it’s obviously a difficult situation.
“But I also don’t want to s**t on the sport. It’s the first time here, it’s a massive project and things unfortunately happened, but I guess they did the best they could with what they had.”
There is pure hatred towards the event from many figures in the gambling capital of the world.
Leading Formula 1 journalist for The Sun Ben Hunt posted on Twitter: “Staggering day in F1 – left astounded, but not surprised. Called it here after the farce in Qatar.
“I cannot believe they turfed the fans out from the grandstands at 1:30am. FP2 set to start here at 2:30am.
“This is a humungous embarrassment for F1. FP1 in Las Vegas cancelled after FOUR laps due to a faulty drain cover. This should have all been checked out before hand, but once again, ZERO test event.
Formula 1 journalist Chris Medland called it “shambolic”.
Sainz was earlier forced to a stop in his Ferrari after hitting the cover, resulting in a red flag and damage to the front of his car on what should have been a triumphant return for F1 to Vegas after two races in 1981 and 1982.
Sparks flew from the bottom of Sainz’s car after it hit what organisers called a “water valve cover”.
After some delay organisers announced that the session would not be resumed. The second practice session was scheduled for midnight local time but was delayed as course workers carried out urgent checks and repairs.
When FP2 began, Sainz was promptly handed a ten-place grid penalty for the weekend’s race for using a third energy store of the season — one more than regulations allow. Stewards said they had no choice but to impose the mandatory sanction despite “highly unusual external circumstances”.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was clearly angry about the state of the track in a news conference after FP1.
“We damaged completely the monocoque, the engine, the battery. I think it’s just unacceptable,” he said.
“It cost us a fortune. I think it’s just unacceptable for F1 today,” he added.
Esteban Ocon’s Alpine also suffered damage and the team were forced to begin changing the chassis on his car.
A similar incident occurred at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when George Russell, then racing for Williams, had his car hit by a loose manhole cover and the first practice session was cancelled.
Thursday’s practice was the first time the new circuit had been raced upon. While the Ferrari pair were out front, Aston Martin’s Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso was third fastest ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was fifth quickest with world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull sixth, 0.918 behind Leclerc.
— with AFP
Originally published as Daniel Ricciardo apologises for F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix as police threaten fans
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