A now-deleted statement posted by the Las Vegas Race on its social media platforms said: “Due to logistical considerations for our fans and our employees, we have decided to close all fan areas of the Las Vegas Grand Prix at 1:30 a.m. “We look forward to welcoming fans back later today for exciting FP3 and qualifying sessions.”
Autosport understands that fans have had to leave the fan areas due to the end of security teams, meaning the stands and fan zones cannot function as expected.
It is not clear at this time why the statement was deleted from Vegas Race’s social media accounts.
However, the development means the FP2 session will therefore take place in front of empty stands and end at 4am, the time by which the sections of the track that run over public roads should be fully open to the public.
The severely delayed schedule for the first day of F1 action in Las Vegas in 41 years was caused by the cancellation of the previous FP1 session after Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and Alpine driver Esteban Ocon traversed the long stretch of the Las Vegas Strip hit a loose water valve cover on the 3.9 mile stretch.
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Marshals load Carlos Sainz’s damaged car, Ferrari SF-23, onto a truck
Race officials and track engineers have been making quick inspections and repairs to 30 of these water valves along the strip – filling them with a mixture of asphalt and resin that is hoped will keep them sufficiently in place when cars pass over them at top speed driving on such a long straight.
The large forces that ground effect cars generate on the track as cars drive over it were cited as a reason why the water valve cover in question failed, which particularly happened at the concrete connection to the rest of the road.
FP2 was eventually pushed back to 2am following repairs, before being pushed back first by 15 minutes and then a full half hour to start at 2:30am local time.