[Official] Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 22 of 23

[S griffin]

Not a great start to the weekend with the manhole problems. Really need to check them properly in future. Just feel bad for the fans who have paid all that money and have ended up seeing nothing

[Born Racer]

Entertainingly bad. They need to schedule extra track time tomorrow for the fans as much as for the drivers.

[Akrapovic]

Stewards have rejected an appeal from Ferrari to allow them to use an extra engine, given the exceptional circumstances.

[Akrapovic]

Session due to begin at 1030 UK. However the organisers are now clearing the grandstands. Many fans stuck around waiting for it - they have now been removed by the stewards and local authorities.

[Alan52]

After sitting around waiting for nearly 6 hours after the red flag police and security has now removed spectators from the venue 30 minutes before the new start time of P2.
Farce doesn’t begin to describe it.The official line is that their staff has finished work so no one to look after the spectators.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Stewards have rejected an appeal from Ferrari to allow them to use an extra engine, given the exceptional circumstances.

I think that that is outrageous; it's almost as if the stewards are blaming Ferrari for the deficiencies of the FIA.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I think that that is outrageous; it's almost as if the stewards are blaming Ferrari for the deficiencies of the FIA.

Stewards get out of jail free here is they are saying there is no allowance in the regulations for this, and therefore they cannot do it.

I agree with you.

[GTRMagic]

Does the repair cost fall under the budget cap when it’s the circuit’s fault?

[steve_r]

Farcical scenes. The recent obsession with street circuits is odd. Makes sense if a country has no suitable track, but this is the USA for goodness sake. Nevertheless, this seems amateur in the extreme, and highly embarrassing given the over-hyped nature of the whole event in the first place.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Does the repair cost fall under the budget cap when it’s the circuit’s fault?

Yes.

And I think we all agree that's mental.

[Akrapovic]

Apparently this is the first time FOM has been in charge of organising an entire event themselves.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Stewards get out of jail free here is they are saying there is no allowance in the regulations for this, and therefore they cannot do it.

I agree with you.

I am quite certain that the stewards could have quite easily "overlooked" that there is no allowance in the regs; why, oh why, can't F1 just take common-sense decisions that ordinary people do quite easily? It's not as though there has been any illegality or rule breaking taken in this case.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I am quite certain that the stewards could have quite easily "overlooked" that there is no allowance in the regs; why, oh why, can't F1 just take common-sense decisions that ordinary people do quite easily? It's not as though there has been any illegality or rule breaking taken in this case.

I suspect the stewards could have overlooked it - but there's a good chance one (or more) of the other teams would then put in a protest and have the rules applied anyway.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I suspect the stewards could have overlooked it - but there's a good chance one (or more) of the other teams would then put in a protest and have the rules applied anyway.

Yep. It would take all parties to have the common sense that Mike mentioned, and that's a very rare occurrence indeed.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Yes.

And I think we all agree that's mental.

They'll get financial compensation from FOM though I'd expect, as there are precedents for that.

It seems that this time it's not the welds that are failing, it's the road surface around the covers being ripped out. It always seems that road engineers vastly underestimate the effects of downforce developed by top end racing cars...

[Mike Harte]

I think that it's times like this that F1 misses Bernie; he would have just knocked heads together and told them that it was just sheer luck that their cars weren't also damaged.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by peebee2

They'll get financial compensation from FOM though I'd expect, as there are precedents for that.

Haas are still in court with Sepang organisers trying to claim for 2017. Compensation for circuit damage is not automatically granted.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Haas are still in court with Sepang organisers trying to claim for 2017. Compensation for circuit damage is not automatically granted.

It's not the only precedent though.

Of course this time it's F1 themselves so we shall have to see!

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I suspect the stewards could have overlooked it - but there's a good chance one (or more) of the other teams would then put in a protest and have the rules applied anyway.

Mercedes have just said they would protest if the rules were applied “incorrectly” and Sainz got some allowance.
Apparently they would be the only ones.

[tocatrucky]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Ferrari say that the monocoque is also completely damaged; I wonder if they will be able to prepare a "new" car for Sainz in time for any practice, let alone the race.

Ted said at the time that teams were permitted to being one spare ''chassis'' (tub+wiring loom pre-installed) but nothing in a more built state than that to each event so presumably the Scuderia ate busy swapping over the good bits from Carlos' race car into that. So year new plus all the surviving 9 minute FP1 old bits so essentially new.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever but not an excellent start to the Grand Prix weekend, though FP2 has gone without a glitch. Alonso 3rd behind Leclerc and Sainz.

[Born Racer]

Apart from the fact there were no spectators to view it!

It's a good job Formula 1 isn't shooting, because the organisers shoot themselves in the foot far too regularly.

Could they have not got anyone to keep people in the stands?

Also, it looks quite dark. I thought it would look much brighter around the circuit, but maybe not everyone ponied up to have their lights displayed. It doesn't really capture much the look of Vegas, which is disapponting.

[broadrun96]

It's F1s American tradition, build it up and then blame the track for no action??

Although in fairness this time was a BIT more the track than Indy

[P38 in workshop]

Were I one of the fans who had been sheperded from the stands,I would be absolutely livid.A more pragmatic solution would have been to allow them to remain within the confines of the circuit,after all,there are no guarantees that the next session won't be curtailed pretty soon after it starts if another series of weak points comes to light.In that event I would support the right of the teams to pack up and head for the airport.

[v8supes]

Imagine having spent all that money for a ticket to get 9 minutes of action....