The Las Vegas Grand Prix started in farcical fashion on Thursday night as first practice was cancelled due to a loose drain cover on track.
FP1 had only been going for eight minutes under the lights before Carlos Sainz’s car stopped on the long Vegas strip.
Replays show his Ferrari car went over a loose drain cover before the Spaniard veered to the side and stopped the car.
A red flag was thrown and, shortly after, the stewards announced the session would not resume and are now in a race against time to fix the issue on the surface before second practice starts at midnight, local time (8am GMT).
The message from race control said: “Session will not be resumed due to track repairs.”
Alpine later announced that Esteban Ocon’s chassis would be changed due to damage from the drain cover.
It is a shambolic start to the race weekend for Formula 1, who are the sole promoters of the inaugural race on the streets of Sin City.
Fans in the grandstands jeered when the news came over the PA system that the session was aborted.
More to follow…