First practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was called off after just nine minutes of running because of a problem with a manhole cover. The chassis of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine was damaged by running over a cover. Governing body the FIA said there would be an indefinite delay while all manhole covers around the track were checked. “We now need to check all of the other manhole covers, which will take some time. Ferrari said the damage to Sainz’s car from hitting the manhole cover “seems quite extensive”. It is not the first time a drain cover has caused problems on an F1 track.

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