Second red flag confusion as Charles Leclerc suffers painful Ferrari failure

A costly second red flag fell just moments after a first ended in second practice ahead of this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix

An initial red flag was flown with 20 minutes remaining following a marshal report of a loose drain cover; however, the FIA deemed the cover as safe following an inspection.

With around five minutes remaining, the session resumed; however, it was stopped just seconds later. 

Charles Leclerc had come to a halt at Turn 5 and reported a gearbox issue, although he brought his SF-25 safely to a halt behind a barrier. 

The red flag was flown several seconds after the Monegasque halted, raising confusion as to why the session was stopped. 

Unfortunately, it brought second practice to an end, ruining the final soft tyre runs for the majority of the field.

Suspicions were immediately raised that a drain cover had again come loose, with the FIA having confirmed five minutes after FP2 ended that race control personnel had raised concerns about the same drain cover. 

The FIA stated: "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."