More Las Vegas drain cover drama? FIA explain two red flags in FP2
Second practice was disrupted by two red flags in second practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
F1’s governing body the FIA has explained what caused two late flags during second practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The second hour of practice in Sin City was curtailed by a pair of suspensions in the closing minutes of FP2.
A first red flag appeared with around 20 minutes remaining and disrupted several drivers’ qualifying simulation runs on the soft tyre.
The FIA explained that the first red flag was for a suspected loose manhole cover on the run to Turn 17, which was reported by a track marshal.
“Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, Race Control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available,” an FIA spokesperson said.
“The session has been red flagged as a precautionary measure and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation.”
Following an inspection and 10-minute delay, the FIA stated they were “confident everything is in a suitable condition” as FP2 got back underway.
But moments later, a second red flag came out, shortly after Charles Leclerc pulled over with an apparent gearbox issue in his Ferrari.
“Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted,” the FIA said in a statement.
“They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions.
“Further inspections are underway.”
The stoppages meant a lot of drivers were able to complete representative laps on the soft tyre, leaving plenty of question marks heading into final practice and qualifying.
Championship leader Lando Norris set the pace for McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Leclerc.
More drain cover drama in Vegas
It is not the first time that F1 has had drain cover trouble in Las Vegas.
The inaugural event in 2023 was dogged by problems which led to opening practice being cut short.
The first practice session lasted just eight minutes before then-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz dislodged a drain cover, causing significant damage to the underside of his car.
Sainz had to miss second practice and picked up a 10-place grid penalty for the race after Ferrari were forced to repair his car.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur branded the incident “unacceptable”, while Sainz was left in “disbelief”.
The incident prompted the FIA to inspect every manhole cover around the track but the remainder of the weekend’s action took place without further drama.
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