Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve kicked off the bizarre Las Vegas race weekend by getting married in the paddock prior to the first practice session – with an Elvis impersonator doing the honours. Villeneuve, who won F1’s world title in 1997, tied the knot with his wife, Giulia.
A wedding chapel was set up in the paddock, with his former Williams engineer Jock Clear acting as his best man. The F1 intro was played before the traditional Here Comes The Bride, while an Elvis impersonator led proceedings.
Villeneuve’s wedding was the first to take place in an F1 paddock and it came shortly before disaster in FP1 in Sin City. FP1 was canceled early due to a loose manhole causing damage to Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon’s cars. It was then announced that FP2 would get underway at 2 a.m. local time and Sainz has been handed a grid penalty for replacing damaged car parts as a result of the incident.
His Ferrari car needed a new survival cell, internal combustion engine, energy store, and control electronics all fitted. Ferrari had requested special treatment in relation to the technical regulations but it was denied by the FIA. “The Stewards not that if they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however the regulations do not allow such action,” stewards stated.
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur blasted the disaster in Vegas as “unacceptable”, with half a billion dollars spent on putting the race weekend together. “We damaged completely the monocoque, the engine, the battery. I think it’s just unacceptable,” he said. “It cost us a fortune. We fucked up the session for Carlos. We won’t be part of FP2 for sure…. I think it’s just unacceptable for F1 today.”
Vasseur added: “The show is mega and I am very happy with what [F1 owners] Liberty [Media] did around the race but we have to separate the show and the sporting side. The opening ceremony (on Wednesday) was something mega in F1 but it is not because you are doing this that you don’t have to do the job on the sporting side. You can do the show and do a good job on the sporting side.”
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The penalty is a bitter blow to Ferrari, who are fighting Mercedes for second place in the constructors’ championship. Twenty points separates the Silver Arrows from their rivals and there are just two races to go: Las Vegas, and Abu Dhabi.
Charles Leclerc topped FP1 before it was stopped too, which could have been an indicator of where Ferrari expected to be for the US’ third and final race of the 2023 F1 calendar.
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