2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 Results

The Free Practice Session One at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit was won by Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

The Free Practice session had to be red-flagged in less than 10 minutes after Carlos Sainz stopped his Ferrari car on the track before turn 17.

What was later found was that the Spanish driver drove over a loose drain cover on a track, which significantly damaged his car.

The stewards decided to cancel the session early as the whole track needed to be re-examined. CCTV camera footage shows Sainz going over a loose cover and damaging his Ferrari.

Another driver who fell victim to hitting the loose drain cover was Esteban Ocon, who significantly damaged his Alpine and will need to change the chassis.

The most laps any driver could complete were five, and multiple drivers did not complete a single flying lap, so the final standings of the FP1 session are not very telling.

Drivers who did not complete a single flying lap include Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on Aston Martin, Oscar Piastri on McLaren, and Alex Albon with Logan Sargeant on Williams.

The series of events that led Carlos Sainz to hit the drain cover was very unfortunate for the Ferrari team, which hopes for a very strong performance this weekend.

While Carlos Sainz might not even attend the FP2 session, his teammate Charles Leclerc, who was looking forward to driving on the street circuit, showed their car has great pace, finishing on top of the standings for the FP1 session.