Las Vegas Grand Prix Offers Vouchers to Fans after Practice Debacle

 Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc races during the qualifying session for the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix on November 18, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc races during the qualifying session for the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix on November 18, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
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Las Vegas Grand Prix Offers Vouchers to Fans after Practice Debacle

 Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc races during the qualifying session for the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix on November 18, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc races during the qualifying session for the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix on November 18, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)

Las Vegas Grand Prix officials attempted damage control on Friday after fans were sent home and missed most of Thursday night's practice sessions, offering $200 merchandise vouchers to single-day ticket holders.

The highly-anticipated first look at the track along the famed Las Vegas Strip lasted a mere eight minutes before Carlos Sainz's Ferrari was badly damaged by a loose drain cover, leading to the swift cancellation of the session.

What followed was a five-and-a-half-hour break while crews removed all 30 covers along the 3.8-mile circuit and filled the holes with sand and asphalt as drivers blared Lionel Richie's "All Night Long (All Night)" from their garages.

Finally, a second, 90-minute practice kicked off before empty grandstands at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning, long after fans had been cleared out in a move officials said was a necessary safety precaution.

"Following last night's incident involving a water valve cover, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, F1 and the FIA were faced with the difficult decision to close the fan zones prior to the beginning of Free Practice 2," said a message to holders of tickets for Thursday's practice.

"We appreciate your patience while we remedied the situation. This was not a decision we took lightly. As a thank you for your support, we would like to offer you a $200 voucher to the Las Vegas Grand Prix Official Shop.

"With a full round of practice successfully completed, we look forward to providing a safe and entertaining race weekend for all."

The decision to send fans home was made out of concern for public safety and security officials, who had been on duty for a long time, LVGP CEO Renee Wilm and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, said in a joint statement.

Transportation employees responsible for driving guests back to their hotels were bumping up against the amount of time they could legally and safely drive buses, and hospitality staff needed time to clean and resupply guest areas, they said.

The vast majority of fans in attendance at the inaugural event are on three-day passes and will be attending Friday's practice and qualifying as well as Saturday night's race. They are ineligible for the vouchers.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.