Las Vegas GP grinds to a halt as fears emerge over major repeat issue

FP2 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was red flagged twice over fears of a repeat issue at the F1 track.

With 21 minutes remaining of the session a red flag was waved, although no driver had appeared to crash out on track. The drivers returned to their respective garages, where it was soon revealed that there were concerns over a loose manhole cover in the final sector.

The FIA confirmed: "Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, Race Control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available.

"The session has been red flagged as a precautionary measure and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation."

On the Las Vegas GP's return in 2023, Carlos Sainz ran over manhole cover at a reported 200mph in first practice session, which damaged his power unit, chassis and survival cell, resulting in the session being cancelled.

The incident ended up having disastrous consequences for his race weekend, when the stewards handed him a 10-second time penalty for replacing engine components, with the FIA regulations not allowing for 'mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances'.

While no driver ran over the manhole cover in FP2 this year, trackside workers were on high alert and keen to ensure a similar incident was not repeated at the Las Vegas GP.

Personnel were deployed at Turns 16 and 17 for 15 minutes to assess the situation, and eventually deemed it safe for the session to resume with five minutes remaining.

A second red flag plagues FP2 at Las Vegas GP

The session had barely got underway before Charles Leclerc pulled over at Turn 5 and reported that his gearbox was broken, but did not miss out on much of the session when a second red flag was deployed two minutes later.

Once again trackside workers were concerned about a loose manhole, and the FIA confirmed: "Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted.

"They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway."

FP2 ended with Lando Norris setting the fastest time, but Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli was two hundredths of second behind in second.

EXPLAINED: Why is the Las Vegas Grand Prix taking place on a Saturday?

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