Formula One bosses were facing up to one of the most embarrassing days in the sport’s recent history after practice for the much-anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix was completed at 4am in an empty arena. After months of hype leading up to the £500million race, the first running was abandoned with just eight minutes on the clock. Second practice was then delayed by two and a half hours, and played out in front of vacant grandstands after furious fans were ejected to comply with local laws. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the order, with Max Verstappen sixth and Lewis Hamilton ninth, but the event – billed by F1 chiefs as the greatest show on earth – dramatically unravelled more than seven hours previously. A water valve cover broke free from the newly laid tarmac and tore into the underbelly of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari at 210mph on the Las Vegas Boulevard. The force of the impact visibly jolted Sainz in the cockpit and, amid a flurry of white smoke and orange sparks, disabled his machine. Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the session, but not before Esteban Ocon also struck the debris. On-board footage from Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin captured the 42-year-old dramatically dodging the loose drain cover. Eleven minutes later, at 8:49pm, it was announced practice would not be resumed. Both Sainz and Ocon escaped without injury – but their cars were severely damaged. A giant hole tore through Sainz’s Ferrari leaving his mechanics facing an extensive repair job. Team principal Frederic Vasseur, who appeared in a pre-arranged press conference moments later, was furious. “We completely damaged the monocoque, engine and battery,” he said. “It is just unacceptable.” Second practice had originally been scheduled to start at midnight. But it was postponed as all 30 drain covers along the 1.2-mile Las Vegas Boulevard – which runs against the backdrop of Caesars Palace, Bellagio and Venetian hotels – were inspected. The covers were removed and holes filled with concrete and quick-drying resin in a hasty repair job. The track was finally deemed fit-for-purpose at 2:30am local time. However, when the running resumed the stands were empty after strict labour laws posed a security risk. Some disgruntled fans, who refused to leave, were moved on by police. A general admission ticket for the three-day event costs 500 US dollars (£400), while a hospitality suite was sold at an eye-watering 150,000 US dollars (£120,000) for the three days. The disastrous failure in Las Vegas comes 48 hours after a Superbowl-like opening ceremony, and a day on from triple world champion Verstappen heavily criticising the staging of the Grand Prix – the first here in four decades – as “99 per cent show, and one per cent sport”. F1 executives are keen to build on the sport’s growing popularity in the United States. The race in Nevada joins Austin and Miami as the third in America. Yet the mess here drew parallels with the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis where only six drivers took part amid tyre safety fears. Leclerc finished half-a-second clear of team-mate Sainz. Verstappen, a winner of 17 of the 20 rounds so far, was nine tenths adrift with Hamilton 1.3 sec back in his Mercedes. Third practice is due to begin at 8.30pm on Friday (4.30am GMT on Saturday) with qualifying for Saturday’s 50-lap race taking place at midnight (8.00am GMT on Sunday). Read More Toto Wolff fuelled by ‘personal anger’ to help Lewis Hamilton win eighth title On this day in 2010: Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest ever F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton ‘counting down days’ to end of season after another poor race Max Verstappen thwarts Lando Norris’ bid for first F1 win with sprint victory On this day in 2015: Susie Wolff ends her bid to get on an F1 starting grid Lando Norris ‘gutted’ to miss out on Brazilian GP pole after McLaren blunder

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of Israeli nationalists are expected to march through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem's Old City

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

Wagner mercenaries are arriving in Belarus weeks after a failed rebellion against the Kremlin regime, it has been reported. A large convoy of around 60 vehicles, including large trucks and buses, were seen moving northwest to a camp in the village of Tsel, according to military monitoring group ‘Belarusian Gayun’. “A combination of factors indicates that this is a convoy of the Wagner PMCs [private military company], which entered Belarus from the Russian Federation at night in the Krichev area,” it said. Elsewhere, a top Russian commander appears to have been sacked for voicing concerns about the Kremlin’s war strategy in a sign of growing divisions between officers on the front line and the country’s military leadership. The 58th Combined Arms Army’s general-major Ivan Popov was dismissed after a leaked video showed him delivering a blistering attack on the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of “hitting us from the rear, viciously beheading the Army at the most difficult and intense moment”. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the “comments draw attention to serious disaffection many officers likely harbour towards the senior military leadership.” Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Russian general says he has been fired for telling truth about dire situation on Ukraine frontlines What to know about the harrowing Ukraine war doc '20 Days in Mariupol'

Lenders to one of India’s hottest tech startups, Byju’s, created bogus default claims tied to $1.2 billion in

BRENTWOOD, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 29, 2023--

The Thai baht advanced to the highest in more than five weeks after opposition parties emerged as the

Miss Nicaragua, Sheynnis Palacios, has won the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador, the first to wear the crown from her country

Alexander, who began creating dresses at the age of 4, once designed a custom jacket for Sharon Stone

NFL legends Emmitt Smith and Charles Woodson noted that the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance boosts NFL visibility

'RHONJ' star Teresa Giudice shared photos from her latest outing where all her daughters sported black tops to contrast her white off-shoulder top

BE'ERI, Israel Yarden Roman-Gat handed her three-year-old daughter Geffen to her husband, hoping he could run faster to