Max Verstappen has given his verdict on the much-anticipated Las Vegas GP and its new track. The Red Bull driver, after completing FP2 at 4 AM local time, wasn’t impressed with how things have been with him so far in Sin City and claimed that “there are nicer circuits to drive.”
Verstappen said as per Erik Van Haren on X, “I didn’t enjoy it. There are nicer circuits to drive. Haven’t discovered anything new. Track did improve at the end with a little more rubber. We were able to complete our entire program.”
And there… is the chequered flag 🏁
Plenty of laps under our belt in FP2 with Checo and Max finishing the session in P4 and P6.#F1 || #LasVegasGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/qettr448j2
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 17, 2023
Only eight minutes of action took place in F1 after Carlos Sainz damaged his car by going over a water cover. This resulted in the Spaniard’s Ferrari suffering immense damage and the FIA discontinuing the session by citing security reasons. Therefore, there was also a delay in the start time of FP2.
In the end, the FP2 started at 2 AM, and Max Verstappen was interviewed around 4:12 AM local time. Nevertheless, the session that started on Thursday, and ended on Friday, also gave out one of the most controversial moments in F1.
How did Las Vegas GP land themselves in controversy?
After just eight minutes into the first practice session, Carlos Sainz stopped by the side of the track on the Las Vegas strip after suffering a huge moment underneath his car. The collision occurred with the water covers present on the track, and it resulted in Sainz losing out important components of his car.
As the SF-23 had damage in the internal combustion engine, energy store, control electronics, and survival cell, the Ferrari driver had nowhere to go but to opt for the third energy store of the year, one more than the permitted limit.
The moment Carlos Sainz hit the manhole cover😱😱#LasVegasGP #f1lasvegas #CarlosSainz #LasVegasGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/InRv6dUPP3
— Yusuf Tanşu (@YusufTanu2) November 17, 2023
In the end, the FIA did not allow a free change of components by citing the rulebook. As a result, the stewards had no choice but to give Sainz a 10-place grid penalty for Saturday’s Las Vegas GP.
While the FIA may have allowed Ferrari to escape unscathed, David Croft believes that Mercedes would have likely opposed their decision anyway. All in all, the Las Vegas GP indeed has had a rocky start, right from the very beginning.
