Fernando Alonso leaves fans STUNNED with incredible reflexes as the Spaniard takes a sharp swerve at 185mph to avoid loose drain cover that caused Las Vegas Grand Prix first practice to be cancelled

Fernando Alonso won huge plaudits for his quick-thinking to narrowly avoid a loose drain cover at the Las Vegas Grand Prix that caused havoc and resulted in the first practice being cancelled. 

The issue already caused damage to the cars of Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz – who was directly behind Alonso – in a nightmare start to Formula One’s glitziest weekend ahead of the first race in Sin City for 41 years. 

The practice session was scrapped after just eight minutes when Sainz’s Ferrari whizzed past the area in question and sparks started flying from his left rear tyre. Ocon’s Alpine was then significantly affected. 

But it was the incredible reflexes of Alonso which was hailed by F1 fans to quickly swerve away from the danger zone despite being ahead of both drivers that were affected by the loose drain cover. 

A video shows Alonso speeding along the track at 185mph before he somehow spots the problem ahead of him despite his high speed – and swiftly takes a sharp left turn to swerve clear of it.

Some applauded his ‘incredible’ reflexes to take a sharp swerve away from the danger area

Track marshals and officials tend to the area of the track that saw first practice ended early

A fan on X wrote: ‘Fernando was in front of Carlos and I don’t know how he managed to see and avoid it.’

The same user pointed out how Alonso had been alerted to a yellow flag – but the fact he was able to avoid the cover was still ‘incredible’.

‘He was warned of yellow flags but engineer said: “Yellow flags. I don’t know what the problem is.” so Fernando was expecting something but to see and avoid it at that speed is incredible.’

One added: ‘Fernando has sight of x-ray vision.’

‘Fernando is from another planet. Very fast, impressive,’ wrote another. 

Another added: ‘Seeing” this you can understand the level of mental focus has a driver. Probably they see the world in slow motion 

The issue was far from an ideal start to a hugely anticipated weekend in Vegas

Carlos Sainz saw his Ferrari damaged when he hit the manhole cover during first practice

Race officials released a statement that an inspection by Formula One and FIA determined ‘a single water valve cover failed.’ They added that F1, FIA and local engineers were working to resolve the problem, but didn’t provide a potential time frame. 

Second Practice was due to begin at midnight (8am GMT), but that has been delayed, with Formula 1 announcing it has been pushed back until 2am (10am GMT).

A statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, read: ‘Practice 2 is expected to commence at 2am local time in Las Vegas. This is subject to local circuit engineering team completing the necessary works on the track. The session will be extended to 90 minutes.

‘We will provide an update on the race schedule as soon as possible. During this review period, all tickets, food and beverage and entertainment options will continue to be honored, and we remain focused on providing our patrons with a great experience.’