Ahead of today's opening session the air temperature is 17 degrees C, while the track temperature is 19 degrees.

In terms of updates, Alpine has a new Beam Wing, Front Wing and Rear Corner, while McLaren has a new Beam Wing and Rear Wing and Aston Martin a new Front Wing and Coke/Engine Cover, all of which are circuit specific.

Though the upgrades might be a little thin on the ground, at least six teams are running revised liveries.

Talking of upgrades, at Haas Hulkenberg is running the original package while teammate Magnussen is using the COTA upgrade.

The lights go green and Stroll lead the way, followed by Bottas, Zhou, Gasly and Ocon. Already, all three compounds are in use.

In no time at all there are 17 drivers on track, Alonso and the Williams pair being the 'no shows'.

"Grip is very low currently," warns Russell.

Bottas (hard) posts the first time of the weekend, crossing the line at 50.227. However, Norris (medium) responds with a 48.947 and Hamilton (soft) a 48.513.

Verstappen (medium) crosses the line at 45.200 and Leclerc (soft) 44.019.

Albon and Alonso finally head out as Sargeant remains the only driver yet to appear.

Magnussen (soft) posts a 44.261 and Magnussen (softs) a 43.446.

The session is red flagged when Sainz stops on the straight leading to Turn 15. Just moments earlier we saw Norris taking a pounding as he rode the kerbs.

Just before the red flag Leclerc had raised the bar with a 40.909.

Alonso is told that Sainz is understood to have gone over a drain and reported that his floor may have been destroyed, consequently the Aston Martin driver is warned to be careful on the back straight.

Replay shows a "stop the car, engine off" warning on Sainz's steering wheel just after he ran over something.

At this point race control announces that the session will not resume, which essentially confirms that there was an issue with the track as opposed to initial claims that the driver/car was to blame.

As the Ferrari is lifted on to a flat-bed truck, the stewards survey the damage to the car, which is understood to have incurred suspension damage in addition to the floor being destroyed.

Indeed, Alpine reports that it is changing the chassis on Ocon's car after he too incurred damage.

The FIA subsequently reports that a "concrete frame around a manhole cover has failed. Now need to check all the other manhole covers, which will take some time. Will be discussing with circuit engineering team about length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any changes to schedule."

As the big sell continues, it appears that it is not only style over substance but style over safety.

But hey, look at the bright lights, the celebrities, the liveries, the sphere...

Check out our Friday gallery from Las Vegas here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ARL, 18/11/2023 0:49

"So, the promised “epic" event intended to "set a new standard of fan experience in a race weekend” has involved the destruction of a Ferrari engine and chassis, had fans ejected from their over-priced seats ahead of FP2, and now insult added to injury with a grid penalty for the Ferrari team.

We haven't even got round to the over-hyped z-list irrelevances preening their ignorance on the grid.

A truly new standard of fan experience."

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2. Posted by JClark-Monza1967, 17/11/2023 19:17

"The Vegas setting is for the well heeled folks that are there in person but for TV viewers it's just a "sugar rush" - a few minutes of eye candy. When the racing starts, all of the glitz and glamour is barely visible when the camera is on the cars - it's just another night race, like Singapore. The only good news is that it looks like the circuit itself will be challenging in race conditions. F1 is counting on the Vegas race returning mega bucks for the next 10 years. I have my doubts - this could turn into just a boring flop after the novelty wears off - I'll wager (sorry couldn't help it ;-)) that Liberty winds up regretting this..."

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3. Posted by Paulinho, 17/11/2023 16:52

"Just be grateful that Sainz wasn't seriously injured or worse still."

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4. Posted by Apexing, 17/11/2023 14:51

"So, does the cost of this count against Ferrari's cost cap, or does it get billed to the incompetent ones who green-lighted the track?"

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 17/11/2023 13:30

"You would think none of the FIA technical buffoons have watched 'Driven' to see how to setup an American street course."

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6. Posted by Pavlo, 17/11/2023 12:31

"Pretty sure Enzo would have withdrawn the car from the event after this decision. Or better - start, do first lap to serve the penalty, withdraw at lap 2. Especially with the current constructor's points, they are not fighting for a lot and starting below 10th place doesn't allow for decent result. Publicly bashing FIA for inability to arrange track safety is better.
Even funnier would be if all teams agree to withdraw because "safety and financial concerns" - formally, if stewards qualified this as "unusual external circumstances" and at the same time confirmed that stewards and FIA have no accountability and it's competitor's risk, I think teams can legally say that such risk is not acceptable within the current legal framework. Like in Indianapolis - it's legally fine to withdraw cars for safety concerns."

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7. Posted by Greg, 17/11/2023 11:48

"I feel for Carlos. The denied the extra ordinary request to fix the car after FOM and F1 stewards failed to fully inspect the track and make sure all manhole covers were secured. Denied the repair even though they were at the cause of the problem. Viva Las Vegas. May it be the only race there to much hoopla and not enough work. F1 appears to be throwing out the bathwater in the rules. No previous race to prove the track. Not good at all."

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8. Posted by Devonlad, 17/11/2023 11:03

"Elvis got it right nearly 60 years ago

Viva Las Vegas with your neon flashin'
And your one arm bandits crashin'
All those hopes down the drain"

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9. Posted by ian_w, 17/11/2023 10:47

"And to add insult to injury, the Event organizers have shut the grandstands and closed the venue to spectators at @145AM PT, despite FP2 scheduled to start at @0200AM PT, (but delayed by +30 mins)!

Will anyone be broadcasting live from the Las Vegas / Clark County Courthouse steps to watch the race as the lawyers rush to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Thursday ticket-holders for damages?"

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10. Posted by Simon in Adelaide, 17/11/2023 10:05

"Is it true that the bartenders are developing a new cocktail called “A loose cover” ?"

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11. Posted by F1nerd, 17/11/2023 9:54

"So much for all the hype of this being the greatest race weekend of all time.
The fans that paid a fortune for the weekend have been let down badly."

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12. Posted by Blitsharts, 17/11/2023 9:12

"Very Dallas 1984, with more preparation time but equal incompetence."

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13. Posted by Anthony, 17/11/2023 8:52

"Staggering incompetence to focus so much on the tacky show and forget the fundamentals of running a major motor race……"

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14. Posted by ian_w, 17/11/2023 8:23

"You would have thought when F1 spent all that effort and money to repave the Strip, someone might have inspected the utility access points to make sure they were all sound, repaired any defective ones, THEN repaved the Strip.

But then, these are the same management that thought to repave the roads, THEN ask the County if they might contribute 50% towards the costs.

But then this is the same management who so packed the schedule so tight for the drivers that Carlos Sainz replied in the driver's Press conference,
Q What about the racetrack here in Vegas? What are you expecting from it?
CS: Honestly, I haven't done the track walk, because the timings are just weird this weekend. And I don't know when the track is fully free. We kind of missed it a bit.

So, maybe if Carlos and the other drivers got to walk the track first they would have discovered the issue beforehand, instead of, as F1 described in their tweet (https://twitter.com/F1/status/1725383846500184389),
Following an FIA inspection, it was found a concrete frame around a manhole cover had failed during FP1.
The FIA are commencing checks on all other covers across the circuit. Any changes to scheduling will be advised in due course.

That "inspection" being Carlos looking at the underside of his car and asking, "WTF was that ?"
"

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15. Posted by BillH, 17/11/2023 7:10

"Dang. "

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Opening session abandoned due to safety concerns

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