Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying is plagued by rows of empty seats as action gets underway at MIDNIGHT… after chaotic scenes on Friday saw spectators evacuated after a loose drain cover halted action
- The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend continued on Saturday with qualifying
- After Friday’s chaotic events, there was a lot of vacancy on the circuit
- For the first time since 1982, Formula 1 will take place in the city
Rows of empty seats could be seen as qualifying for the La Vegas Grand Prix started on Saturday.
F1’s first GP weekend in the city since 1982 got off to a rocky start when a loose drainage cover halted Friday’s first practice session and postponed the second, which lasted well into the early hours of the morning.
As a result, many spectators missed most of the action on Friday and images suggest this trend has continued on the second day of racing in Nevada.
Footage recorded by fans at the Vegas Strip Circuit revealed tons of empty seats in the stands as qualifying got underway at midnight local time.
Earlier this week, Motorsports website Oversteer48.com found approximately 10,000 unsold grandstand seats near the track’s recently constructed Sphere and East Harmon Zone when examining Ticketmaster data.
Friday’s action was disrupted by a loose drainage cover, causing damage to two cars
The stands were almost empty after fans who paid £200 per ticket were sent home following the cancellation of FP1 and FP2 running late
A Formula 1 spokesperson told Mail Sport that they expected the event to sell out and were planning an attendance of around 100,000 people for each of the three days of the Grand Prix.
Those plans suffered a major blow due to the chaos that ensued on Friday and left fans – some of whom had paid $185,000 (£150,000) to watch the action – furious over the canceled session.
F1 chiefs will be cursing their luck after the glitz and glamor were quickly washed away amid the chaos of the loose drain cover.
Race officials had released a statement that an inspection by Formula 1 and the FIA had found that ‘a single water valve cover… failed’ in the first practice session.
The FIA later said Carlos Sainz had hit the concrete frame surrounding a manhole cover and that the governing body must now inspect every manhole cover on the track.
“We will discuss with the local track engineering team how long it will take to resolve the issue and will update any resulting changes to the schedule,” the FIA said.
The Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Sainz qualified ahead of three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
However, the Dutchman will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix on the front row alongside Leclerc, after Sainz was forced to take a grid penalty due to the damage he sustained driving over the damaged part of the track.