LAS VEGAS – The start of Formula One's residency in Las Vegas last November was a very important moment in the game's 73-year history.
Formula 1 spent over half a billion dollars to placed on one of the vital hyped races in its history and took charge of promoting and organizing your complete Grand Prix.
Despite a rocky start – a loose water valve cover canceled first practice and significantly delayed FP2 on a miserable opening night – the event was an enormous success. On the track, the battle for victory continued into the ultimate laps as Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc fought for positions. The fast route with a protracted straight along the strip was well received by the drivers and made for essentially the most entertaining race of the yr.
The Grand Prix cost numerous money, although locals were frustrated by the disruption Formula 1 caused in town. November is usually the eighth best month of the yr in town. In 2023, it was the second best month in its history.
“We knew it was going to be big, but the attention… honestly, Formula 1 has done a fantastic job building this race,” said Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). “The marketing value was two to three times higher than we expected. We would have been happy with a third of what we got.
“We were thrilled with what we expected, but what we got was eye-opening.”
As Formula 1 returns to Las Vegas for the second time, there may be a brand new dynamic. The novelty factor has diminished, but as an alternative comes experience and a guide for organizers to work from. There is a bar where you’ll be able to meet again.
The concentrate on racing in Las Vegas has only increased due to the tighter competition leading as much as 2024. At this point last yr, Verstappen had long since been crowned champion; Now there's a probability he can win his fourth title on Saturday evening, so long as he finishes ahead of Lando Norris.
The potential for Formula One to crown a champion at its most glamorous event is exciting for the game and something that race organizers know offers a singular probability so as to add a Las Vegas flavor to the celebrations.
“I'm sure we can pull a few ideas out of the hat and maybe arrange some pretty exciting opportunities in advance,” Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm said of a possible coronation, citing the prime quality. End the hospitality options at accommodations along the Strip. “There are so many ways to highlight the drivers, especially when we actually have the advantage of bringing in a champion.”
While the race organizers may not give you the chance to influence the sporting spectacle, the success of last yr's Saturday evening race was sufficient confirmation that no changes were needed for 2024. The track stays the identical, but they anticipate increased fan interest with a late-season championship fight underway.
“In the US we like to see good competition and it’s less about who the team or driver is,” said Wilm. “Knowing that there is still so much at stake and that the championship is on the line, and the fact that so many different drivers were on the podium, it creates a lot of excitement and excitement.”
To appeal to fans for the second edition of the race, a special approach was taken. In the run-up to the Grand Prix 2023, the query of high ticket prices and the unaffordability of participation for spectators was discussed. This yr, as a part of the restructuring of the ticket inventory, over 10,000 additional tickets were made available in three fan zones. The hope is to make it a race that suits everyone, not only those searching for high-end experiences.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix also modified the best way the race was marketed, starting preparation about 100 days prematurely as an alternative of over a yr prematurely. Wilm said in October that ticket sales had been “pretty much in line with our expectations” and that she expected a spike closer to the race due to Las Vegas' status as a last-minute city. She also believed that many fans would wait until after the US presidential election, which could have left some “a little hesitant to know what their November is going to look like.”
According to an announcement from the race last week, 300,000 participants are expected “based on calculated data from ticket sales and bookings for race-related programs.”
In addition, more targeted efforts were made to interact with the local people prior to the second yr. A free fan festival will happen on Friday and Saturday, giving attendees a taste of what Formula 1 brings to Las Vegas. The tickets are quickly fully reserved. Hill believed it will help “build both goodwill in the community and an additional fan base in the Southwest” of the United States.
Race organizers have made efforts to tell the general public about traffic surrounding the race. (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
After the frustration of many Las Vegas locals over the extent of disruption last yr, it was especially vital to construct goodwill with the community. The requirements to repave the road sections for the circuit – removing 10 inches of the surface and replacing it with one suitable for F1 cars – resulted in significant road closures and traffic problems. Since a big a part of the development work was already accomplished last yr, it was not mandatory to repeat it this yr.
“This year the community knows more about what to expect, and we’re not just building the track,” Hill said. “We only started any road disruptions in the first week of October, whereas last year it started in mid-April. It just tires you out after a while.”
Wilm said they’re “just light years further along than October last year in terms of the mood on the ground.” This is the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It can also be the Grand Prix of Liberty and Formula 1. That is why it’s so vital for us that everybody welcomes this event as much as we do.”
Communication with locals is an area where race organizers saw room for improvement. “We have communicated, but we have not communicated with the level of sophistication that this race requires,” said Terry Miller, the final manager overseeing track construction. In 2024 the race upgraded a bespoke, interactive website to supply full details about road closures and possible disruptions. It introduced a text message program that gave locals an summary of the week and met with over 900 stakeholders to avoid surprises.
Another surprise from 2023 that Formula 1 is keen to avoid is the loose water valve cover disruption on Thursday evening, which destroyed Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, led to the primary rehearsal being canceled after eight minutes and the second rehearsal was delayed for thus long that police asked fans to go away the track at that time. While it wasn't the primary time a utility cover appeared on a Formula 1 road circuit, it was by far essentially the most infamous incident.
Miller explained that recent protocols are in place this yr. “Because of what happened last yr, we even have a protocol and a process that we've been going through during the last five months to secure the lids, even to the purpose where we're going to do three or 4 visual inspections “What happens on the road before and after a racing event?” he said, confirming that there were additional controls after last year's events.
“You can never guarantee that nothing will happen,” he said. “But you can certainly take remedial measures to reduce the risk, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Despite the frustration felt by some in Las Vegas, the race's commercial success was significant. A Clark County report estimated the Grand Prix's total economic impact at $1.5 billion, of which $884 million came from visitor spending. It brought in $77 million in tax revenue and turned what would normally be the second-worst weekend of the year into “top-of-the-line weekends we've ever had,” according to Hill, exceeding all expectations.
It will be a huge challenge to achieve this in 2024, and there is no expectation that it can be repeated in such a spectacular way. “We probably won't be able to match the numbers we had in the first year again, and we don't need to for it to be successful,” Hill said. “If the numbers were half as high, that would still be a game changer.”
This means that a successful second edition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be more about sustainability – about putting on another spectacular show with fewer problems or frustrations. Not everything will be to everyone's taste. Saturday's 10:00 p.m. PT start time remains unchanged and will inevitably disrupt riders and their team personnel. A fresh dose of time zone confusion to kick off a tripleheader that continues with two weeks in the Middle East to close out the season.
While there is a desire to reduce the demands on drivers for the “spectacle” surrounding the Grand Prix, the debate between show and sport is also likely to reignite when they arrive in the paddock on Wednesday.
But now it's about reaching what Hill thought was a “balance point” between the excitement of something new and the uncertainty or concern it might cause locally, and proving that this is a long-term event can be.
“This kind of sustainability is very important,” Hill said. “It's a tough race, it's on one of the busiest roads in the world and it's not easy to run. But it’s going to be a fantastic week.”
image credit : www.nytimes.com