F1's flagship race in Las Vegas kicked off with a shaky start, as a manhole cover worked loose during the second practice session led by Lando Norris.
The bizarre incident at Turn 17 was not shown on the TV feed; however, photographers present at the scene captured the scene.
In a session interrupted, the McLaren driver was 0.029 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Charles Leclerc third, 0.161 seconds off the pace.
Norris' teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri was 14th, mainly due to the red flag for the track problems.
The first interruption lasted 16 minutes before the action restarted only to be suspended permanently for three minutes.
The FIA, who govern F1 proceedings, offered live updates, noting, "Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, Race Control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available."
"The session has been red-flagged as a precautionary measure, and Race Control personnel are currently on site assessing the situation," it shared.
Explaining the situation, the FIA added, "Some Race Control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted. They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway."
Norris leads Piastri by 24 points and Max Verstappen by 49, with Las Vegas, Qatar (including a sprint race) and Abu Dhabi remaining.
