Viva Las Vegas!!! Formula 1 sets up in Sin City this week for the most anticipated Grand Prix races of the season, of the decade and perhaps even of this millennium. And I can't wait!
Why? Because it is an audacious and very brave endeavour by Liberty Media, the commercial rights owners of F1. It's a race they are heavily invested in and one that has roots in the time when Ross Brawn was F1 motorsport chief during the Chase Carey era, succeeded by Stefano Domenicali who clearly drove home the project.
The third Grand Prix in the USA, a market F1 appears to have finally conquered, is the talking point on just about every talk show and event, including the U2 show at the Sphere in Las Vegas last week when lead singer Bono compared the legendary band members to F1 drivers, he trumpeted on stage: “One of four great things out of Holland, on the drums, Max Verstappen!
“On the bass, the most elegant man on the circuit. Who is it, who is it? Lewis Hamilton on bass! On guitar, the Monaco model himself, Charles Leclerc! I’m at home with country music and metal and I am the right person to bring peace between Formula One and NASCAR – on vocals, Daniel Ricciardo!”
The Australian has been a busy and fabulous ambassador for the sport in the USA in the build-up to the Vegas return, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and making the sport proud, with his demeanour, humour wit and grace
The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix takes place at strange hours, but it is very much on this coming weekend. This is amid much apprehension, even criticism of hosting the sport's most high-profile race of the year in the bustling casino city.
Although F1 has been there previously, namely a Caesar's Palace carpark with two races. The first in 1981 and the second in 1982. Four decades later F1 is back at Las Vegas, both are vastly bigger and this weekend we will see if the heady mix will be really better. Well, that's another story for another time.
The ethos of this website is to provide our readers with the widest, most credible coverage of all sides of the F1 story. Not reporting issues and problems that arise in the build-up to this amazing race, would be irresponsible and not how we roll. Good news, bad news gets covered. This is a positive piece on the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But ahead of the GP, there have been problems. Last week, on the eve of the race, the Culinary Workers and Bartenders Unions in Las Vegas reached a tentative labour deal with Wynn Resorts hours before a strike deadline, ending the threat of a labour stoppage against casino operators that could have crippled tourism in the city. Sorted thankfully!
It will be colder in Las Vegas than F1 teams and drivers are used to
Practice, qualifying and the race will be held at night with temperatures F1 teams tended to encounter during European winter testing. The Las Vegas race is in line to be the coldest Grand Prix on record. And the track. Will it work or not?
A less known issue, but a real one, is getting the F1 freight from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi. With no freight flights into the local airport, the load has to go by truck to Los Angeles and be loaded onto flights for the trek halfway around the world, in time for Friday FP1 at Yas Marina.
F1 traveller and raconteur extraordinaire - Joe Saward - best describes the complexities of the forthcoming journey in his essential F1 Green Notebook blog.
Finally, reports of residents and businesses being unhappy with the disruption of the city by setting up the F1 'circus' have to be considered. Anyone who has been to Las Vegas in recent years will wonder how they will manage on streets constantly heaving with people.
As a former spin doctor, this is how I would 'sell' the LVGP:
- The Union Issue: Glad it's sorted. If F1 provided the opportunity for workers to leverage their requests on a global stage, great! Workers come first.
- Tricky Track: At least it's not in a car park! Just drive!
- Weather Woes: Cold? Very Cold? So what. Most advanced cars in the world, plus the best race drivers and an army of engineering geniuses behind the ten teams... Just get on with it!
- Dear Residents: Concerns noted. Let's talk about it after the race weekend when the dust has settled to plot the best way forward for the next ones. Goal to make everyone happy, or the majority at least.
- Dear Abu Dhabi GP Organisers: After the Vegas race, we have 170 hours (seven days) until FP1 gets underway at Yas. It will require a masterclass in logistics to get there in time. But we will do it. Inshallah.
So, there we have it. We can just all be miserable and condemn popup circuits like Las Vegas and the direction the sport is heading. It is what it is. Accept. Enjoy. Because this weekend, Brawn, Domenicali, and all the people involved should take a bow to make the dream come true. We as F1 fans hope only for the best.
They say that when the Man-on-the-Moon looks down on Earth at night, he can see a glow in the darkness of the Nevada desert- Las Vegas! If he takes a look this weekend, the glow will throb brighter than before as one of the most (love it or loathe it) incredible cities in the world, and one of the greatest sports on the planet collude to deliver the greatest spectacle in sport.
If the stars align, it could well be that for Las Vegas and F1 on this massive stage; a huge hit and everyone is happy ever after. And boy, let's face it, the world sure needs some feel-good news right now.
Viva Las Vegas!!!
Viva Las Vegas!!!
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