The opinion of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has remained unchanged after the weekend in Las Vegas. After the first free practice, the Austrian felt that the criticism of the event was over the top, and reacted strongly to this during the team bosses’ press conference. According to Wolff, the Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas met all expectations.
Wolff reacted strongly to the criticism from the other team bosses after the first free practice. Carlos Sainz suffered significant damage to his car after driving over a loose manhole cover. Both the Spaniard and Ferrari were furious that they also received a grid penalty of ten places for replacing the damaged parts, which Sainz could do nothing about. Vasseur was harsh with his criticism, but Wolff thought that was unacceptable. He did not think that opinions could be formed after one session. In conversation with Motorsport.com, the Mercedes team boss looks back on the incident with the manhole cover. “As I already said, that was nothing,” Wolff says firmly.
“When I look back, I see a fantastic race, a great audience and an event that is rock solid,” the Austrian continues. “That’s what I will remember the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix for, that it lived up to all expectations.” A number of things leave a bad taste in the mouths of F1 fans. Because the repairs to the track in FP1 took so much time, FP2 was postponed, and before the second session could start, the fans had to leave the stands. Wolff does not see that as something negative either. “These were circumstances that were unforeseen, and you can’t have the circuit staff working so late here. Some kind of buffer may have to be created for next year.’
Adjusting the timetable ‘just a detail’
Several team bosses indicated that the late schedule of the Las Vegas Grand Prix put a lot of strain on the teams’ staff. The first day in particular was extremely low. Wolff agrees with this. “It’s about the logistics,” says the Austrian. ‘How do you deal with the traffic situation in Las Vegas if the times are moved forward? I don’t want to look for a hair in my soup because it was so fantastic. We can look at the times of the sessions and perhaps plan qualifying a little earlier. Although that is just a detail. The whole event was great.’
