by As fans trudged away from their expensive seats acquired on the first night of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, having seen just eight minutes of cars on track before the “sewer door”, a question occurred to them in mind: how could sport come back for this?
Yet beyond all the fanfare that inevitably accompanied Formula 1’s lavish return to Sin City last year, what really saved the inaugural event was the Saturday night race itself. We had overtakes – 82 in fact, the most overtakes at any circuit in his first Grand Prix – we had safety cars and we had drama on the last lap. For a sport that sometimes veers too overtly toward spectacle, it was a refreshing nod to the drama of on-track action.
So as F1 returns to Vegas this weekend for the second episode of this 10-part drama – with a decade-long contract and F1 investing $500 million in a race it promotes itself – the foundations are laid. The 17-turn, 3.9-mile track with an epic straight along the Vegas Strip is ripe for close racing. The setting speaks for itself: Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, is home to the glitziest and loudest sport on the planet.
But now they even have a sporting unpredictability that they sorely lacked last year. They have the key ingredient. Even if Max Verstappen, for the fourth time in a spin, can seal the title this weekend by finishing ahead of his title rival Lando Norris.
“Vegas looked good on TV, the cars were driving down the Strip, with all the lights – I think it ticked a lot of boxes that F1 wanted to tick by going there,” Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok tells The Independentas the 2024 season approaches its finale in the coming weeks.
“As a spectacle, it was superb. It’s always a compromise, it’s difficult to build a good road circuit because you have all the existing infrastructure: buildings, bus stops, fire hydrants and everything else. I think they did a good job on the circuit, under these circumstances.
“At the end of the day, as a race track, it was great. We had some good races.
F1 was the target of a barrage of criticism last year after the opening night salvo descended into chaos. After a loose drain cover tore a gaping and costly hole in Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, the first practice session was canceled. The second practice session was delayed, hour after hour, until fans were cruelly sent home – and denied a full refund. On the ground, the air of discouragement was palpable everywhere.
“I was actually quite friendly,” says Chandhok, when asked about “sewer doors.” “It’s not something we haven’t seen before – we’ve seen it in Monaco, Dallas, Singapore, Malaysia. This is what sometimes happens on a street track.
“A lot of people came to criticize him. I refuse to join it.
F1 and its governing body the FIA have apparently learned their lesson, with many manhole covers paved this year and others reinforced with a heavier anchor block to hold them in place. They also made changes to qualifying, which is moved forward by two hours to avoid a repeat of last year’s midnight start time. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the action goes smoothly this time.
F1, holder of the commercial rights, was keen to highlight the eye-catching post-race figures. With 145,000 unique visitors and an economic impact of nearly $1.5 billion, last year’s race was the largest sporting event, with the largest global audience, in Vegas history. Bigger than huge boxing fights. Bigger than UFC showdowns. Bigger than last year’s Super Bowl.
For Aerial sportswhich has held the live rights to F1 in the UK since 2012, Vegas is the opportunity to go further and more brash than anywhere else.
“A new race always throws new challenges for everyone,” says The sky F1 director Billy McGinty.
“They learn on the job and through experience. We do a lot of planning, preparation and reconnaissance. We are confident we can bring Vegas to life. It was a great show last year.
Among features in Sky’s wider programming, this year’s Vegas adventures include Gladiator II star Paul Mescal in conversation with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton reflecting on his first world title with Mercedes a decade later and presenters Simon Lazenby and Danica. Patrick parachutes out of a plane and lands on the roof of the Wynn Las Vegas hotel.
But, ultimately, if die-hard fans get up before the race starts at 6am in the UK on Sunday morning, they will be tuning in to Martin Brundle’s grid walk. A segment that the presenter himself rather comically describes as “car accident television”.
McGinty has a different view. “I don’t think there’s anything that comes close,” he says. “There’s a lot of planning, but no matter how much planning, it’s 10 minutes of unscripted television. And Martin hosts it superbly.
“I think the best live sports television takes you into the heart of a grid, 15 minutes of 20 drivers running and risking their lives, and we are on the grid talking to them and their team principals.”
On the track, Vegas could see the drivers’ title come to a conclusion that some have always considered inevitable. Verstappen is 62 points ahead of Norris with 86 points remaining on the table. If the Dutchman finishes ahead of the Briton, he will join Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost on four F1 world driver titles.
In reality, only a Verstappen retirement and a victory for Norris will keep the title race alive beyond the next race in Qatar. Norris hasn’t given up hope yet, but it will take some turnaround from here on out.
Nonetheless, the three-way battle between McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull for the constructors’ title means the action at the front should be competitive. The year 2024 has seen seven different winners, compared to three last year. This means that beyond the Vegas-induced razzmatazz, the sporting concoction itself should once again be the main event in Sin City.
Fans can tune in live and exclusively for Sky Sports F1 and NOW for Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend (November 22-24).
