Formula 1 and Las Vegas have issued a statement explaining Thursday’s issues at the inaugural event but stopped short of apologising for the situation.
Formula 1’s first practice lasted only eight minutes before it was suspended and not restarted after Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon both struck loose drain covers.
The second session was delayed by two-and-a-half hours, and ran for 90 minutes, but did so without spectators in the grandstands.
“Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans,” read a joint statement from F1 boss Stefano Domenicali and Las Vegas CEO Renee Wilm.
“Let us turn to the fan experience. The delay in the start of the second Free Practice session from midnight to 2:30 AM PT created risks for our employees and our fans.
“We made the decision to close the fan areas that are under LVGP’s purview at 1:30 AM PT and send fans home.
“Let us explain why. First, we were concerned about our public safety and security officials who had been in service for a long time and who are being asked to work for the next three nights. We thank Clark County’s Metro Police Department, Department of Public Works and other public safety officials for their incredible support during the event and also as we re- opened the track early this morning.
“Second, we were concerned about our transportation employees who are responsible for driving our fans back to hotels. By Federal law, they were bumping up against the amount of time they can legally and safely drive buses.
“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and resupply our guest areas to ensure that the fan experience is optimal for everyone over the coming days.
“We know this was disappointing. We hope our fans will understand based on this explanation that we had to balance many interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend.
“We have all been to events, like concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races, that have been cancelled because of factors like weather or technical issues. It happens, and we hope people will understand.
“So how will we address this tonight? We have worked overnight to adjust our staffing plans across security, transportation and hospitality to ensure that we can function and serve fans with the best possible experience in the event of an extended race schedule.
“We are excited about the racing today and thank our entire team and our fans for their support. We know this is going to be a great event. With that let’s get back to racing.”
It is understood that any apology, or recognition of liability, would open Formula 1 and/or the promoter to potential legal action.
This feels a lot like the F1 tire fiasco at Indianapolis.
Shambles. Three of this year’s races, two in the USA and one in Italy, should have been scheduled elsewhere, to uphold a one country, one race policy. Two of the three have now had disasters, and I would not discount further divine retribution interfering with this weekend.