F1 changes Las Vegas manhole covers to avoid Sainz crash repeat

Formula 1 has put permanent fixes in place to prevent a repeat of the high-profile incident that got Las Vegas off to a rough start in 2023

Formula 1 has modified the Las Vegas Strip circuit's manhole and valve covers to prevent a repeat of Carlos Sainz's heavy crash last year.

During the very first practice session for Formula 1's first race around the Las Vegas Strip, Sainz suffered a huge accident when his Ferrari dislodged a water valve cover on the main straight.

The incident, which was caused by a failure of the cover's concrete frame, led to enormous damage to the Spaniard's Ferrari and saddled the Scuderia with a big repair bill. It also delayed the rest of the Thursday running while temporary fixes were put in place, with FP2 running at 2:30am local time in front of empty grandstands. The rest of the weekend went smoothly from that point onwards.

In order to prevent a repeat this year, Motorsport.com/Autosport understands F1 and its governing body the FIA have made modifications to the many covers along the 6.2-kilometre street circuit.

A significant number of manhole or similar covers have been paved over, while others have been reinforced with a much wider and heavier anchoring block to keep them in place.

As the circuit predominantly uses public roads, the organisers could not pave over all relevant covers as the city needs access to water valve and other utilities whenever the track re-opens to the public, which is where the reinforced construction has been used.

Other smaller tweaks to the circuit include re-aligned walls on the fast entry into the pitlane.

When asked about last year's incident, Sainz said: "After what happened last year, I hope everything's fixed this year because I think it will be a lot better for the race and for everyone, and obviously for all the drivers, for safety. That's my number one hope, for sure.

"But we're looking forward to it. It's a cold weekend and different track to what we're used to, low downforce, low grip, so a lot of different variables that we're normally not used to and a lot of challenges ahead like they were last year. I'm excited for it."

Ferrari has been touted as the pre-race favourite due to its SF-24's strengths in slow corners, traction zones and long straights, with no high-downforce corners where McLaren can make the difference.

But Sainz cautioned that while Las Vegas suits Ferrari in theory, the cold night-time temperatures could bring the team's struggles to get heat into the tyres to the foreground.

"Especially this year we have been quick on this kind of tracks," he said. "But then we've been very weak in switching on the tyres in qualifying and in the races on outlaps. So, we are aware that as good as this track looks on paper, it's presenting us with the biggest challenge of the temperatures.

"We've never raced in such cold temperatures apart from last year. So, McLaren can talk us up with the track layout but at the same time we know that this temperature is potentially a big weakness for us."