Ferrari furious after damage to Carlos Sainz's car during abandoned practice in Las Vegas


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Ferrari were left furious after Carlos Sainz's car was damaged during first practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix when he hit a loose manhole cover, causing the session to be abandoned after just nine minutes of racing.

Sainz had his vehicle stop after hitting the cover, resulting in a red flag and damage to the front his vehicle. After some delay organisers announced that the session would not be resumed.

"Following inspection, it was the concrete frame around a manhole cover that has failed. We now need to check all of the other manhole covers which will take some time," the International Motoring Federation (FIA) said in a statement.

"We will be discussing with the local circuit engineering team about the length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any resultant changes to the schedule."

A second practice session was scheduled for midnight local time in Vegas and organisers faced a race against time to make the checks and any necessary repairs in time.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had posted the fastest lap with a time of 1:40.909.

The Italian team said they were checking the damage caused to Sainz's car but said that it "seems quite extensive".

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, clearly angry and using profanity in a news conference, there was no chance of Sainz taking part in the second session.

"We damaged completely the monocoque, the engine, the battery. I think it's just unacceptable," he said. "It cost us a fortune. We won't be part of FP2 for sure. I think it's just unacceptable for F1 today."

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff reacted with fury to a question from a reporter about whether the incident was a "black eye" for the sport's organisers.

"That is not a black eye, this is nothing. We are on Thursday night, we have an FP1 that we are not doing, they are going to seal the rain covers and nobody is going to talk about that anymore tomorrow morning," said the German.

"It's completely ridiculous. How can you even dare try to talk bad about an event that sets new standards in everything? You are talking about a drain over that has been undone, that has happened before and is nothing."

"Between the FIA and the track everybody needs to analyze how we can make sure this doesn't happen again but talking about a black-eye for the sport on a Thursday evening, nobody watches that in European time anyway."

Esteban Ocon's Alpine also suffered damage and the team were forced to begin changing the chassis on his car.

A similar incident occurred at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when George Russell, then racing for Williams, had his car hit by a loose manhole cover and the first practice session was cancelled.

Thursday's opening practice was the first time the new circuit had been raced upon.

Virtual banks explained

What is a virtual bank?

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.

What’s the draw in Asia?

Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.

Is Hong Kong short of banks?

No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year. 

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Power: 640hp

Torque: 760nm

On sale: 2026

Price: Not announced yet

CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20QUALIFIER%2C%20ZIMBABWE%20
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England v South Africa Test series:

First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs

Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs

Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31

Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8

The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Power: 575bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh554,000

On sale: now

Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla

Verdict:  Three stars 

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

MATCH INFO

FA Cup final

Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)

Manchester United 0

Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

SPECS
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MATCH INFO

Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')

Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)

Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

The specs

Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm

Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km

FIGHT%20CARD
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Updated: November 17, 2023, 7:45 AM`