2023 F1 Las Vegas GP FP1 cancelled after just 9 minutes of running due to a loose drain cover

It has not been an ideal start to the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP weekend as the FP1 session was canceled after just nine minutes of running due to a loose drain cover on the track.

The weekend, billed as the "biggest event of the year," began in an anti-climactic manner as Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had to park his SF-23 on the Las Vega Strip. The Spanish driver sustained damage to his floor, which prevented his car from going down the 1.9km Strip on the track.

As per BBC, Alpine also said they were changing the chassis of Esteban Ocon's car because of 'damage from a suspected drain cover.'

The Stewards decided to cancel the entire FP1 session as they deemed the loose drain cover to be a safety issue. It is unclear if the F1 teams and drivers will get added time in the FP2 session to make up for lost time.

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Ferrari F1 driver earlier gave his take on his chances at the upcoming Las Vegas GP

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was pretty confident heading into the Las Vegas GP this weekend. He predicted that the track layout would suit the SF-23 more than the last couple of races.

In his pre-race press conference, Carlos Sainz said:

"Better hopes than recently, mainly because the track looks probably a bit more suited to us than recent tracks. Long straights, like in Monza. Tight corners, like in Monza or Singapore.

"Yeah, maybe there's the combination of Turns 1 and 2 where we will not be very quick but then the rest of the track, I think our cars should be better suited than recent events. And hopefully, that gives us a better opportunity."

When asked about the unusual timings of the weekend, he said:

"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. But I've done plenty of laps on the simulator.

"And yeah, also looking forward to seeing a bit of the Safety Car going around later this evening to see how much dust there is on track. The bumps. Sometimes when you see a Safety Car, you can actually get a bit of a feeling of how slippery [it] is going to be out there."

It will be interesting to see how quickly all the F1 drivers and teams adjust to limited running on the track and if there will be more track-related issues over the course of the weekend.