Las Vegas Grand Prix officials tried to mend relations with Formula 1 fans, angered or disappointed about not getting what they paid for on Thursday night, by offering those with single-event tickets a $200 discount at the official merchandise shop.
The news of the compensation was met with derision on social media. Two problems. The offer does not apply to the majority of fans who purchased three-day passes. And the $200 gesture doesn’t go far — at all. There are a number of ways, though, to take advantage of the $200.
Someone could spend it all on one item, such as a quarter-zip racing team pullover, but that doesn’t cover the roughly 8% Nevada sales tax. For a little more bang for the buck, consider a $160 racing team sweatshirt and a $40 Las Vegas Grand Prix baseball cap, though again the tax would be on the consumer.
The merchandise tent is split into the more expensive team merch on the right side and the bargain-bin-by-comparison general Las Vegas Grand Prix items on the left.
So to make $200 go the furthest, consider staying to the left side by getting that $40 cap, a $60 long-sleeved T-shirt, a $42 T-shirt and a $35 beanie with $23 left over to pay for the sales tax.
Race officials found themselves wanting to make amends after a rough start to the much-anticipated Formula 1 race on the Las Vegas Strip.
Fans were forced to leave having only watched 8 minutes of practice during the eight hours
The first practice session ended after Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari ran over a water valve (drain( cover and damaged his Ferrari and the race’s reputation. Race officials inspected the course, which resulted in a 2 1/2-hour delay for the second session, which began at 2:30 a.m. local time Friday. They also extended the practice session from an hour to 90 minutes.
However, fans were left fuming when they were told to exit the facilities before the second practice, meaning they got in only nine minutes of viewing a few F1 cars in FP2. Police were called in to ‘help’ reluctant fans on their way out.
Thus, the decision to offer the $200 credit’ which F1 trumpeted in an open letter (in full below) to fans: “We appreciate your patience while we remedied the situation. This was not a decision we took lightly.”
The Continental Tire Main Event – a college basketball tournament in Las Vegas that began Friday, where Saint Mary’s, San Diego State, Xavier and Washington are competing in that tournament at nearby T-Mobile Arena – took a dig at the Las Vegas Grand Prix: “Hey Vegas…our practices started on-time!” (Reporting by Mark Anderson)
Joint Statement from Formula 1 and Organisers of the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Statement from Renee Wilm, CEO, Las Vegas Grand Prix and Stefano Domenicali, CEO, Formula 1 Las Vegas, NV, November 17, 2023 – Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, today issued the following statement:
“Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans. Responsibility for the oversight of a Formula 1 event falls with Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder of the sport, the FIA as the regulatory body, and the local promoter, in this case the Las Vegas Grand Prix. This is important for those who are new to racing to understand.
“Last night, approximately nine minutes into the first Free Practice session, a water valve cover broke on the straight on Las Vegas Boulevard. At that time the FIA, which is responsible for the safe running of the activities on the circuit, stopped the session so that we could look at the broken water valve cover and inspect the track. This has happened on occasion at other tracks at other races around the world.
“The precautionary step of removing all of the water valve covers on the entire track and filling them with sand and asphalt was undertaken. The entire process, from determination of the issue to remediation, took approximately five hours.
“The decision to remediate in this way was taken out of an abundance of caution and because the safety of drivers, trackside marshals and officials and our fans is always our highest priority. We thank the contractors who worked expeditiously to resolve the situation so quickly.
“As a result, the first Free Practice ended early. We moved ahead with the second Free Practice session at approximately 2:30 AM PT for 90 minutes. The decision to run the second Free Practice session at 2:30 AM PT was supported by all parties to ensure the sporting integrity of the remainder of the event.
“We would like to thank the drivers, mechanics and all the teams for their patience and commitment last night to ensure that we could run the session successfully.
“Now, let us turn to the fan experience. The delay in the start of the second Free Practice session from midnight to 2:30 AM PT created risks for our employees and our fans. We made the decision to close the fan areas that are under LVGP’s purview at 1:30 AM PT and send fans home.
“Let us explain why. First, we were concerned about our public safety and security officials who had been in service for a long time and who are being asked to work for the next three nights. We thank Clark County’s Metro Police Department, Department of Public Works and other public safety officials for their incredible support during the event and also as we reopened the track early this morning.
“Second, we were concerned about our transportation employees who are responsible for driving our fans back to hotels. By Federal law, they were bumping up against the amount of time they can legally and safely drive buses.
“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and resupply our guest areas to ensure that the fan experience is optimal for everyone over the coming days.
“We know this was disappointing. We hope our fans will understand based on this explanation that we had to balance many interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend.
“We have all been to events, like concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races, that have been cancelled because of factors like weather or technical issues. It happens, and we hope people will understand. So how will we address this tonight?
“We have worked overnight to adjust our staffing plans across security, transportation and hospitality to ensure that we can function and serve fans with the best possible experience in the event of an extended race schedule.
“We are excited about the racing today and thank our entire team and our fans for their support. We know this is going to be a great event. With that let’s get back to racing.” End.