F1 Las Vegas GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the 21st round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Live AppleTV Race Audio
After all the hype and the glitzy build-up, the most anticipated race of the year is here as F1 returns to Las Vegas for the first time in over 40 years.
The Las Vegas GP is the penultimate race of the 2023 season and provides an all-new challenge to the teams and the drivers, on a street track built around the famous city Strip.
The first practice session of the Las Vegas GP weekend starts at 4:30am GMT, followed by second practice at 8:00am GMT.
Good news for Ferrari as Sainz bounces back from his earlier incident to go fastest with his initial effort, setting a 1m39.891s. Team-mate Leclerc is now P2 from Verstappen.
After making significant repairs to Sainz's car, Ferrari are showing their amusement at the situation, playing 'All night long' loudly in their garage.
It isn't just the grandstands on the pit straight, it is all of them. Fans have seen just nine minutes of action for a lot of money. A PR nightmare is unfolding on the largest stage.
The grandstands on the pit straight are now also closed, with fans being moved on, so even if the session does eventually begin, there will be minimal spectators.
This is an extremely bad look for F1. Indianapolis 2005 anyone?
And now we're pushed back to 2:30am local time before the session starts. The word "embarrassing" is being banded about now, and it is very difficult to disagree with that summary.
We're sorry to have to bring you some bad news. The work to the circuit has overrun and the session has been pushed back by 15 minutes. We should now begin at 2:15am local time, 10:15am GMT.
Keeping an eye on the world feed, there are a significant number of officials cars on the track completing final checks. Road sweepers are also clearing any debris from the track.
The session should indeed be over by this point, but after a water valve cover was dislodged just nine minutes into FP1, teams, drivers and fans have all been left waiting while repairs were made to the circuit.
So, certainly not the FP1 anybody expected or wanted. Hopefully the F1 running can resume later today, with FP2 scheduled to start at 8am GMT - a little under two and a bit hours from now. We'll keep you posted on the latest as and when we get it.
Horner on the Red Bull drivers' impressions of the track to Sky Sports F1: "It is not like Istanbul where the surface was super slippery, the surface is fresh but the temperatures were coming up and everything was behaving. It was just a shame the running got caught short as it was starting to come in. They said it is like driving in the wet on slicks but that is pretty normal for a new track."
Horner, who turns 50 today, speaking to Sky Sports F1: "We are all good [no damage] but we've seen damage to Alpine and I spoke to Fred [Vasseur] and Ferrari also has damage. Got to make sure safety is paramount before we go running again."
So, it really is the 2019 Azerbaijan GP all over again. Back then, FP1 was cut short when Russell ran over a damaged drain cover which damaged his Williams. The FIA ensured all drain covers were welded down safely before restarting the action.
Here's the latest from the FIA: "Following inspection, it was the concrete frame around a manhole cover that has failed. We now need to check all of the other manhole covers which will take some time - we will be discussing with the local circuit engineering team about the length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any resultant changes to the schedule."
