[1/2] Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S - November 16, 2023 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. walks into the pits REUTERS/Mike Blake Acquire Licensing RightsLAS VEGAS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will have a 10 place grid penalty at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after a loose drain cover wrecked his car and forced the cancellation of Thursday's opening practice. Race stewards turned down the Italian team's request for penalty-free repairs because they said they were obliged to apply the regulations as written. "I think it's tough for a team to arrive in Vegas and to have this kind of incident," he said. First practice lasted only eight minutes before Sainz's Ferrari hit the drain cover in a storm of sparks. "You've got to say that's force majeure, that's nothing of their own doing," he told Sky Sports television.

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Persons: Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr, Mike Blake, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Spaniard Sainz, Ferrari, Fred Vasseur, Sainz's Ferrari, McLaren, Zak Brown sympathised, You've, Alan Baldwin, Toby Davis Organizations: Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip, LAS VEGAS, Ferrari, Sky Sports, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Vegas, London