Las Vegas GP hit with lawsuit over practice issues

A local Las Vegas law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against the Las Vegas Grand Prix over the practice cancellation and delays that occurred on Thursday night.

FP1 had just eight minutes on the clock when the session was red flagged due to Carlos Sainz striking a loose water valve cover on the Strip, with Esteban Ocon also hitting the debris and sustaining heavy damage. Both cars needed extensive repairs but the session was also cancelled to allow a further track inspection to take place and remedial work to ensure running could restart.

As a result, FP2 finally got underway at 2:30am local time, and fans were forced to leave at 1:30am as the race organizers closed the fan areas due to local labor laws meaning security staff could not work beyond that time.

Fans with one-day tickets were offered a $200 voucher for the official Las Vegas Grand Prix store as compensation, while there was none publicly provided to those who are on three-day passes.

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Las Vegas-based Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting filed a class action lawsuit in Nevada state court Friday night, stating it is seeking damages “on behalf of the 35,000 people who purchased tickets” and didn’t get to see practice take place.

The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, negligence, and deceptive trade practices against the defendants, who are Liberty Media Corporation doing business as Formula One Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix, and TAB Contractors, Inc.

While there are errors in the timings outlined in the complaint, it alleges: “F1 and/or its contractors and safety organizations failed to detect the flaws and/or poor installation of the subject manhole cover sealed by TAB and failed to ensure that the track was race-ready for the ‘Practice Run’ event.”

Dimopoulos Law Firm owner and lead attorney, Steve Dimopoulos, added: “We will vindicate the rights of the fans that traveled great distances and paid small fortunes to attend, but were deprived of the experience.”