F1 Las Vegas GP organizers issue statement as drain cover damages multiple cars in FP1

The 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP did not kick off smoothly, as the first-ever practice session on the brand new street track only lasted around nine minutes before getting red-flagged and cancelled. The reason behind it was that Carlos Sainz's Ferrari was hit by a water valve cover that was dislodged from the track. It caused massive amounts of damage to his car. On further investigation, it was seen that even Esteban Ocon's Alpine got affected.

After the session was cancelled, F1 came out with a statement explaining how a water valve cover on the track 'failed' during the FP1 session. It also stated that the local engineering team is actively working on it.

The statement read:

"After inspection by Formula 1 and the FIA, a single water valve cover on the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit failed during the first practice session. The FIA, F1, and local circuit engineering teams are actively working to review and address the issue. We will provide an update on the race schedule as soon as possible."

Since this will greatly hamper fans' experience as they will not get to see any action, the statement assured everyone that tickets, food, and entertainment around the track will be honored and continue.

The statement continued:

"During this review period, all tickets, food and beverage, and entertainment options will continue to be honored, and we remain focused on providing our patrons with a great experience. We appreciate the collaboration of the relevant event operations staff to ensure a safe and orderly egress of patrons if they choose to leave."

As of now, the current situation is that the second practice session of the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP has been delayed.

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Max Verstappen is unimpressed by the Las Vegas GP F1 track

Max Verstappen recently gave his opinion on the Las Vegas GP track. The three-time world champion sounded not too excited by it, mainly because he feels new F1 cars are too heavy for street tracks.

Furthermore, he likes high-speed corners more than slower ones, which this track has. When Sportskeeda asked about the Las Vegas circuit at the pre-race event, the Red Bull driver said:

"I don’t think it's that exciting, that's the only thing. But I think naturally already for me, street circuits are not very exciting, especially with these new cars are too heavy. Especially also when you have low grip, that doesn’t help."

He added:

"Obviously the scenery will look great driving through the strip but the layout itself is not the most exciting. I think in an F1 car, it’s a lot of fun with high speed corners so yeah, around here there are not many high speed corners."

Despite not liking the new track in the entertainment capital of the world, Max Verstappen is still one of the favorites to win the new Las Vegas GP.