LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is asking Formula 1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix officials to fix certain areas of the circuit ahead of next year's race.
That's after McLaren driver Lando Norris crashed about four laps into the race and lost the back end of his car near Turn 12, which is by Treasure Island and the Palazzo. He ended up in the barriers, which damaged the vehicle and a front tire. Over his radio, Norris said he was OK, but the crash ended his night. Norris was eventually taken to University Medical Center to get checked out as a precaution and was discharged shortly after.
RELATED LINK: McLaren's Lando Norris released from hospital following Las Vegas crash
According to Stella, a bump in the turn could present a safety issue in the future.
"You can see all the cars sparkle when they go through this bump. I think the combination of the bump and the cold tires might have surprised him," Stella told reporters. "I think that bump, if we carry on racing at nighttime, should be fixed because the tires will always be cold, low grip and it becomes a very tricky corner. Already, during the weekend, we saw cases of oversteer in that place. So, independently of the timetable, we would strongly recommend that this bump is smoothened out."
However, on Thursday, Norris told reporters the bump wasn't the only factor that caused his crash.
"[It was] a combination of things. The obvious one being there is quite a big bump there. Then, cold tires so, therefore, lower ride heights than what you are normally running with. The first time following a lot of cars through all of this, you have even less downforce than what you already have. And then, a couple of other little things in the background just made this bump have a bigger effect than what it normally has," Norris said. "It was just a bit unlucky."
He added that with or without the bump, it would be rare for the same incident to happen again.
"If I tried to drive everything the same now, it's not a guarantee that it would happen again," Norris said. "If I was 30 centimeters to the right or left, maybe it would be different. If there was one less car ahead of me, it would have been different. If I clipped the battery a little bit earlier, it would have been different. I think the track is okay. It's not the best track I've ever driven, if it was just higher grip. I think the tarmac made it worse than what every driver would have wanted."
Norris added the crash looked a lot worse than it was, at least in terms of how he is feeling.
"It was still a decent impact but I was fine. I never struggled with anything. They just wanted to do a lot of check-ups and stuff - kind of the new norm nowadays, it seems," Norris said. "I was more just frustrated that I was out of the race in Vegas so early on. It was more just a shame."
This wasn't the first time safety was questioned during the race. In the first practice session, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Alpine's Esteban Ocon ran over a water valve cover that broke and damaged both of their vehicles. The first practice session was canceled and the second session was delayed while crews worked to quickly check and fix the remaining covers on the track. Team principals said it wasn't a big issue and it has happened before in several races. While that may be true, eventual race winner Max Verstappen said things still could have ended badly.
RELATED LINK: Formula 1 driver penalized after hitting water valve cover on Las Vegas Grand Prix track
"The entire car is f*****. Carlos also said he couldn't feel his leg for a few seconds," Verstappen said. "The accident could have been way worse."
Another issue that several team principals and drivers have brought up is how late start times were for race events. For example, qualifying was at midnight while the race itself didn't start until 10 p.m. Ahead of the Las Vegas race, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and Haas team principal Guenther Steiner both said it was taking a toll on their teams.
"Having qualifying at midnight is different for us so we've been trying to stay up until three or four in the morning and then sleep through the afternoon," Piastri said. "The main thing is to stay awake more than anything and to get into the same time zone."
"We are not used to the cities which never sleep. Sin City, which always keeps on going. There's always something going," Steiner told Channel 13. "I lost sense of time and day."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner agreed saying everyone's "leaving Vegas slightly f*****, one way or another."
"It's been a brutal weekend for everyone behind the scenes and I think we need to look at how we can improve that for the future. We're working so late at night; maybe to run it a little earlier in the evening because you're never going to keep every television audience totally happy," Horner said. "This is an American race and if you run it at 8 o'clock in the evening or something like that, it would just be a bit more comfortable for the men and women working behind the scenes."
RELATED LINK: ESPN: 1.3 million viewers tune in for Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur and Mercedes-AMG team principal Toto Wolff said fixing the schedule would be helpful but it's hard to find the right balance.
"In the past, we had no issue because F1 was just for the European people and we had to stick to the European timing and it was okay," Vasseur said. "Now it's a worldwide project and it's much more difficult to find something fitting with the expectations of the 24-hour zone."
"I think that it's logistics," Wolff said. "How do you manage the traffic situation in Las Vegas?"
All of the Formula 1 teams are currently in Abu Dhabi for the last race of the 2023 season. For context, that is 12 time zones away from Las Vegas and teams have only had a few days to adjust to the schedule. Next year's schedule could be even more brutal on teams. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for Nov. 21 through Nov. 23 before teams travel to Qatar, which is scheduled from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, and Abu Dhabi, which is set for Dec. 6 through Dec. 8. It's something AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo said needs to be looked at.
"That does not have my vote," Ricciardo said. "Knowing that, they need to bring it forward because we will be wrecked, especially at the end of the season. I've done like six races and I already feel it. Hopefully, they can make something work."
