FIA reveal fix to Las Vegas GP drain covers after overnight inspections

The FIA has detailed the extensive overnight work carried out at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to prevent any repeat of the manhole cover failure that disrupted FP2.

The second hour of practice in Las Vegas was disrupted by two red-flag stoppages.

The first red flag appeared with 20 minutes on the clock, ruining a number of drivers’ qualifying simulations.

The FIA explained after FP2 that a possible loose manhole cover on the approach to Turn 17 was the cause of the stoppage.

“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.”

The session restarted before being halted again with two minutes on the clock.

“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.”

No further running was completed, giving the FIA and track officials the chance to check the track.

Ahead of final practice and qualifying, the cover of the manhole has been welded to provide “further mitigation”.

This has also been done to 14 additional manhole assemblies.

“The manhole that prompted the red flag in FP2 was disassembled and further inspected,” the FIA said ahead of final practice.

“A specific fault was found with the closure mechanism, and it was possible to address this issue overnight.

“In addition to the work conducted to address the issue identified, the cover of this manhole has been welded to provide further mitigation.

“All other manhole covers on or close to the racing line were reinspected overnight, and additional welding was applied to a further 14 manhole assemblies.”