Las Vegas FP2 halted twice as loose manhole cover ends session early — deja vu on the Strip
Two red flags, four minutes of running, and a familiar headache for Formula 1 in Las Vegas. Free Practice 2 was curtailed on Friday night after a loose manhole cover near Turn 17 forced Race Control to shut the session down for good.
It unraveled late in the second hour. A trackside marshal first flagged concerns about a cover on the approach to Turn 17, prompting an immediate red flag while officials hustled to the scene. “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 FIA explained as the stoppage began. “The session has been red flagged as a precautionary measure and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation.”
After a quick inspection, the all-clear came. FP2 flickered back into life with four minutes to go — enough for an out lap and not much else — before it was shut down again almost as soon as cars rolled over the suspect spot. The explanation arrived a few minutes after the chequered flag: “Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted,” the FIA said. “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.”
It’s not the first time the Strip has bitten back. In 2023, the inaugural Vegas weekend opened with that infamous seven-minute FP1 and a wrecked Ferrari after Carlos Sainz struck a dislodged cover. The impact punctured the floor, damaged engine components and even broke his seat — and it got worse when he copped a 10-place grid penalty for taking new hardware. The stewards were blunt then, noting they had no wriggle room: the Sporting Regulations demanded the sanction “notwithstanding the fact that the damage was caused by highly unusual external circumstances.”
Incidents like this are more than a PR bruise. In a cost cap era, they’re expensive. Ferrari had to absorb that 2023 bill; roll the clock back further and you’ll recall Romain Grosjean’s drain drama at Sepang in 2017, which ran to around €650,000 before the event’s insurance stepped in.
On Friday, the immediate casualty was track time. Teams lost the chance to stack meaningful laps in the cool, grippy night window they care about most here — exactly when long runs and high-fuel balance checks should be happening. F1 Academy qualifying, which followed FP2, was nudged back and then got going again almost immediately once the surface was deemed safe beyond Turn 17.
The optics aren’t ideal for a race promoted by Liberty Media, the sport’s commercial rights holder. Vegas sells spectacle, and it usually delivers. But nothing drains the buzz like the phrase “track maintenance” on a timing screen. Street circuits and infrastructure don’t always play nicely; the job now is to make sure this doesn’t become a recurring Vegas subplot.
The FIA will complete further inspections and, one assumes, a belt-and-braces reinforcement of that troublesome cover before cars return. No one needs a repeat on Saturday. The Strip’s neon can handle the heat. The manholes need to do the same.
