LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Scuderia Ferrari's Carlos Sainz has been hit with a 10-place penalty for the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to repairs made on his vehicle after running over a water valve cover.
Viral videos captured sparks flying off the back of the vehicle and you could hear the Spaniard groan in the on-board camera footage. Sainz was able to walk around the pit and garage building but later told reporters he did take a "pretty big hit on my back and neck."
The moment Carlos Sainz hit a drain cover on the Las Vegas strip, causing FP1 to be cancelled 👀 pic.twitter.com/KIMbuZoteY
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
The incident caused the first practice session to be canceled and the second practice session to be significantly delayed Thursday night and into early Friday morning.
It originally looked like Sainz wouldn't be able to participate in the second practice session. But while crews were on the track looking at and fixing drain covers, the Ferrari team was able to rebuild Sainz's car. However, that led to the 10-place penalty.
According to the stewards' ruling, the Survival Cell, Internal Combustion Engine, Energy Store, and Control Electronics were "damaged beyond repair" due to "highly unusual external circumstances." The new energy store on the vehicle was the third of the season, which exceeds the season limit. With the penalty, Sainz can start the Las Vegas Grand Prix no higher than the 11th spot on the grid.
Ferrari officials were definitely frustrated by the ruling.
"That changed, completely, my mindset and my opinion on the weekend and how it's going to go from now on. I'm disappointed and in disbelief with the situation. You will not see me very happy this weekend," Sainz said. "I honestly cannot understand it and I think an exemption to the rule should have been considered given what happened, but we'll have to deal with it."
"This will cost us a fortune," team principal Fred Vasseur said. "I think it's just unacceptable."
Alpine's Esteban Ocon also had issues following the first practice session. His vehicle was damaged by the water valve cover and had to be repaired.
The second practice session was delayed until 2:30 a.m. and wrapped up at 4 a.m.
Drivers reaction to Vegas Grand Prix track
Drivers said despite having to wait to get back on the track, they enjoyed the drive and it was fun.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin:
"This is a really interesting circuit with a lot of very different corners and long straights. At night, the tires lose temperature a little bit so it's interesting going into the hard braking zones," Alonso said. "This could make for a fun race with overtaking opportunities. I think it's going to be very tight in qualifying and the race."
Esteban Ocon, Alpine:
"I enjoy this track and it should make for an exciting qualifying and race," Ocon said. "Let's see what we can do later today after a few hours of well-deserved sleep for everyone."
Kevin Magnussen, Haas:
"We've done our first laps in Vegas now and it's not a bad track. I had fun out there," Magnussen said. "As always, we need to find more speed but at least after all the waiting, we got some laps in and have data to look at. There weren't many surprises from the simulator to the track. It is very low-grip but it is also very fun."
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes:
"It's an incredibly fast circuit and I had a lot of fun out there. I'm so glad we got to run again today," Hamilton said. "The circuit did a great job to fix the issue we saw in FP1 and we had an interesting FP2. It looks like everyone is suffering from graining and we were running out of tires. I think everyone was in a similar boat. That's likely due to a combination of a new track surface and the temperature. Qualifying is going to be hugely important. Managing degradation is going to be key on Saturday night in the race too. Overall, I had a blast out there. I feel great and I'm ready to go again later today."
