FIA releases update as Las Vegas GP circuit undergoes manhole cover repairs

The FIA has made changes to the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit following the red-flagged FP2 session that stemmed from a suspected issue with a manhole cover. Ahead of Friday's FP3 session, the cover was reinspected and 14 others were also checked and welded.

FP2 on Thursday night came to a stop with around 20 minutes remaining after a marshal spotted a potential issue with a manhole cover at Turn 17 of the Vegas circuit.

Race Control stopped the session to allow officials to inspect the cover and, while it was briefly resumed, the clock ran down under a second red flag. This left McLaren's Lando Norris topping the timesheets, followed by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, while a number of other drivers failed to complete any running on soft tyres.

"Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, Race Control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available," a statement said at the time.

"The session has been red-flagged as a precautionary measure and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation."

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A second update followed, adding: “Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted.

"They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway.”

Track staff inspect a loose manhole on track

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

In an update sent to Motorsport.com, the governing body explained that the suspect manhole cover was dismantled after the session, allowing a fault with the closing mechanism to be repaired. This fault has now been rectified, and 14 other covers were also checked and welded as an extra safety measure to make sure there isn't any movement as the ground-effect cars move over them.

This isn't the first time Las Vegas has had to deal with issues like this. In 2023, Carlos Sainz suffered substantial damage when his Ferrari was struck by a loose manhole cover. This led to lengthy repairs and a dramatic rescheduling as fans were forced to leave the circuit.

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