F1 sport and show

I am in Las Vegas for the inaugural Formula 1 race, which has garnered mixed reviews from locals and drivers alike, but it has consumed Vegas this weekend and is expected to bring in around $1.7 billion of additional revenues to the city that doesn’t sleep.

At last night’s qualifying there were some empty seats around us in the East Harmon Zone grandstand opposite the new permanent paddock, but the noise and octane levels were high.

Thursday’s night’s practice ended in embarrassment for the F1 hierarchy when it was abandoned after just 8 minutes when a drain cover came loose and Carlos Sainz ran straight over it at 200 mph leaving his car severely damaged and requiring a new engine, which led to him receiving a nonsensical 10-place penalty on the starting grid.

The next practice was put back to 2.30am, but with security workers unionized their day was done and the stands were emptied. Fortunately our group foresaw this and continued to lose money at the casino.

F1 owners Liberty Media have made a huge gamble to the tune of $500 million (and that is bound to tick upwards) on F1 succeeding here including buying 40 acres of prime real estate, building a brand new paddock on it and adding a temporary 3.8 mile track that runs down and around the famed strip.

It is pretty awesome to see, but the disaster of qualifying on Thursday has only added to the disgruntlement from the drivers. Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc have been very vociferous on it, but newly crowned champion Max Verstappen has been the loudest critic.

Verstappen described the race as “99% show and 1% sporting event,” and after his first experience of the track said he didn’t like it.

A lot of sports have battled against the purists in recent years, but F1 has always had a reputation of razzmatazz and glitz, so they should co-exist quite nicely. A 10-year contract has been signed, so they at least need to work at it.

I have never seen F1 live and last night’s taster of final qualification whet my whistle. It was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to return tonight for the race itself.