CHAOS IN VEGAS: F1 2025 Descends Into Turmoil as Manhole Disaster Sparks Wave of Red Flags!
The Las Vegas Grand Prix was thrown into absolute turmoil on Thursday night as the second practice session collapsed into chaos, confusion and fury — all thanks to the return of a nightmare the sport hoped it had buried forever: a loose manhole cover. For the second time in just three years, the glitzy Las Vegas strip became the centre of a safety storm that brought Formula 1 to a grinding, embarrassing halt.
What was meant to be a high-speed, high-adrenaline night session under the neon glow of Sin City instead devolved into pure frustration, with drivers unable to complete their performance runs and teams left completely in the dark heading into the rest of the weekend.
The drama began with just under 20 minutes left on the clock. A sharp-eyed track marshal spotted movement around a manhole cover — a sight that sent shockwaves through race control. The discovery triggered an immediate red flag, stopping the session in its tracks. Everyone in the paddock knew exactly why: because in 2023, the Las Vegas strip infamously tore apart Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari when a manhole cover was sucked up by the car’s aerodynamics. That incident destroyed his chassis, delayed proceedings, and embarrassed the organisers on a global stage.
Now, here in 2025, the nightmare was back.
The first red flag came at the worst possible moment. Every team had just switched into qualifying mode, bolting on soft tyres and preparing for full-speed push laps. Engineers were on the pit wall poised to gather crucial data — data they would now never receive. Several drivers were already charging down the straights at full power when the red flag appeared, instantly ruining their laps and plunging the session into uncertainty.
After race officials inspected the suspect area, the session was restarted. But it was immediately clear the chaos was far from over. In a desperate attempt to salvage their programmes, the entire field lunged out of the pit lane in a frantic rush for track position. Cars swarmed the circuit, jostling for clean air, weaving aggressively, and fighting for every inch of asphalt before the clock ran out.
But in the middle of this scramble, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc suffered a bitter blow. As he prepared to begin what should have been his first meaningful run of the evening, Leclerc reported a gearbox problem and abruptly steered off the racing line, parking his Ferrari in a run-off zone. His session was over — and his team’s data window slammed shut along with it.
And then came the final twist.
Before any driver could complete a single legitimate flying lap, the red flag was thrown again. Officials had spotted further movement in the same manhole area, instantly reigniting safety fears and forcing the FIA to shut down the session completely.
The paddock was stunned. Fans at the track groaned. Engineers threw their hands in the air. Drivers sat helplessly in their cars as another Las Vegas practice session died in the most chaotic fashion imaginable.
Sky Sports’ David Croft summed up the mood bluntly:
“This has been a very, very frustrating last 15 or 20 minutes.”
But that was an understatement.
The final timing order looked more like a lottery than a serious session. McLaren’s Lando Norris ended up fastest with a 1:33.602 — but his time is almost meaningless. The two red flags meant barely anyone completed a genuine qualifying simulation. Still, Norris found himself on top, followed closely by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who finished just 0.029s behind in a standout performance during an otherwise disastrous evening.
Leclerc somehow held onto third place, despite never completing a proper push lap before his gearbox issue sidelined him. Behind him, Nico Hülkenberg delivered a shock fourth for Kick Sauber, while the Racing Bulls pairing of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson followed in fifth and sixth.
George Russell, Alex Albon, reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top ten. But the truth is simple: these numbers mean almost nothing. Every team will enter FP3 with far more questions than answers.
More worrying, however, is the bigger picture. The fact that the Las Vegas street circuit has once again suffered manhole failures is alarming. With the memory of Sainz’s 2023 catastrophe still fresh, many are asking how such a dangerous flaw could resurface in a race of this scale.
The glamorous spectacle of Las Vegas has been overshadowed once more — not by racing brilliance, but by infrastructure failure.
As the lights of the Strip continued to shimmer, the mood in the paddock was anything but bright. Everyone left the circuit with the same uneasy thought:
If the track can’t stay together, what happens next?.
