Unsafe Conditions<\/h2>\n
Less than 10 \u2062minutes into Thursday \u200bnight\u2019s first practice, officials had to red-flag the session, \u200chalting all \u200con-track activity. Two separate cars\u200c \u2014 the Alpine driven by\u2063 Esteban Ocon and the\u2062 Ferrari of Carlos Sainz \u200b\u2014 ran over a drain cover on \u200dLas Vegas Boulevard (aka \u2063\u201cthe Strip\u201d),\u2064 which constitutes \u2063the backstretch of the grand prix circuit.<\/p>\n
Sainz\u2019s crash, which\u2064 came \u200cat speeds approaching 200 mph, \u200bcaused a \u200c tremendous amount of damage to his car<\/a> \u2014 so much so that after the incident, the pavement was visible<\/a> from inside the car\u2019s \u2063cockpit.<\/p>\n
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Things only got worse from there.<\/p>\n
For starters, Sainz learned\u200c that because\u200d the damage forced him\u2063 to go\u200b to a backup car and power unit, he \u200cwould have to take\u200b a 10-place \u2063grid penalty<\/a> \u200bat the start of the race. In \u200bother\u200b words, because Formula One didn\u2019t properly inspect and secure the track before practice started Thursday night, \u2064Sainz and his team not \u2063only suffered a small \u2062fortune in \u2062damage, but\u200d they got penalized for the race itself \u200bbecause the sport\u2019s regulations don\u2019t allow for a waiver \u2063or exception for a problem not of Sainz\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n
Fans Kicked Out<\/h2>\n
As one would expect, the damage to Sainz\u2019s \u200ccar necessitated lengthy\u200d delays to the\u200d evening\u2019s schedule \u200cto\u200d allow Formula One to repair the track. Because Nevada law prohibits<\/a> welding shut manhole covers, the \u200dseries had to keep them in place with quick-setting concrete.<\/p>\n
But examining and fixing the 20-30 spots on the\u200b track took over \u2064five hours. And because Formula \u2063One originally set\u200d practice\u200b times very late \u2014 the \u201cearly\u201d practice began at \u200d8:30 p.m. local\u200b time \u2014 \u2064so that European fans eight hours ahead could \u2064watch them, the repairs took \u2063well into the \u200cearly hours of \u200dFriday\u2064 morning Las Vegas time.<\/p>\n
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Excepting \u200bthe brief few minutes before \u2064the drain issues appeared, Thursday\u2019s sole \u200cpractice didn\u2019t start until 2:30 a.m. local time. And the \u206290-minute session took place without fans.\u200b Spectators were kicked out of the circuit<\/a> at 1:30 because \u2062security staff had to \u201cclock \u200bout\u201d due to local labor laws. <\/p>\n
ESPN accurately described<\/a> the end result: \u201cThe bizarre \u2062spectacle\u2062 of \u200b20 Formula One cars \u2064circulating an empty\u200b city in the \u200dmiddle of the \u200bnight,\u201d a \u201cfarcical\u201d outcome by any standard.<\/p>\n
Refunds, Anyone?<\/h2>\n
Despite all the \u200c(negative) coverage of Thursday \u2064night\u2019s debacle, one word failed\u200b to appear: \u201crefund.\u201d It bears\u200c repeating that tickets just for Thursday\u2019s practice cost roughly<\/a> $200 apiece<\/a>, not counting associated extras \u2063(fees, parking, refreshments, \u2062potential travel\u2062 costs, and more). As one astute observer noted<\/a>, the money\u200c those fans spent \u200cquite \u2063literally went \u2064down the \u200ddrain.<\/p>\n
For their money, fans who stayed all\u2062 evening got a handful of laps\u2062 before the\u2063 Sainz\u200d incident, followed by five hours of waiting\u2064 in vain for further on-track action \u2014 in some of the \u2063 coldest temperatures<\/a> \u200cFormula One\u2064 has\u200c raced in \u2064\u2014 and then a \u200bprompt \u201cGo home!\u201d at 1:30 a.m.\u200d All this\u200b for\u2062 problems caused entirely\u2064 by Formula One\u2019s failure to inspect the track properly.<\/p>\n
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff attempted to dismiss \u2064the complaints \u200cas largely irrelevant, in a German accent\u2062 that only added to his imperious demeanor:<\/p>\n
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Never heard Toto this rattled even over AD21 \ud83d\udc80\u200d pic.twitter.com\/shRqDlCUnk<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Tom Sp8 \u200d\u3145\u20dd\u2064 (@Tom_Speight98) November 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n