Ocon Another Victim Of Loose Manhole Cover At Las Vegas Grand Prix
F1Friday, 17 November 2023 at 19:00
Updated at Friday, 17 November 2023 at 20:19
Esteban Ocon is the other unlucky F1 driver to damage his car besides Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Free Practice Session One saw an early end after less than 10 minutes of driving when the loose manhole cover damaged Carlos Sainz's car number 55, who consequently had to stop on the side of the track.
Event organizers quickly realized there might be a similar problem on multiple parts of the track, so all manhole covers on the track had to be ceiled before the FP2 session could start.
While the main attention was on the Ferrari car, which apparently had completely damaged the monocoque, the engine, and the battery, it was revealed that Esteban Ocon's Alpine car also suffered some damage as well. Ted Kravitz told Sky Sports:
"Now we know the manhole has cost Alpine a chassis and we believe it has cost Sainz one as well. That means neither will make FP2 as it takes more than three hours to get a new chassis ready."
It was feared that neither of the drivers would make the FP2 session. However, it was postponed, which helped the teams, and both drivers attended the FP2 session in the end.
"The mechanics are dismantling the gearbox and if that’s okay they can bolt that onto the new chassis when it gets into the garage. But it’s quite a lot of work to do."
Esteban Ocon has been quite unlucky this season, as he has retired from six of the 20 races, and his bad luck continued in the Las Vegas Grand Prix FP1 session. Alpine's team boss, Bruno Famin, commented on the damage to Frenchman's car:
"It is quite bad, we have to change the chassis and the floor. We have to take the car into pieces. Quite challenging."
The Alpine driver finished 16th in the second practice session after doing 37 laps on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
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