A 'Perfect Marriage' with Vegas

LAS VEGAS • For over 30 years, Formula One has been trying to secure a race in Las Vegas with the Strip in the background.

That became a reality on Wednesday, with F1 set to light up the Las Vegas night sky on a Saturday in November next year as the streets of Sin City are taken over by the fastest cars and most famous drivers in the world.

The announcement of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and its 6.12km track that will see drivers roar past famous landmarks such as the Bellagio Fountain and Caesars Palace immediately marked the race as one of the most glamorous stops on next year's calendar, and the Strip lit up with ads for the race after it was confirmed.

On the event that is expected to attract 170,000 fans, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said: "We are doing something spectacular. It's the perfect marriage. We are in an iconic city, we're going to have the right atmosphere, the right intensity, the right passion. We feel at home here already."

F1 races are usually staged on Sundays but the Vegas race will be held on a Saturday night.

Domenicali added that it showed that the sport is "not static" and can adapt to its environment.

Vegas will also need to adapt to the race, which Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said will have a US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) impact on the local economy.

"I predict that this will become the iconic race, the flagship race, of F1 within a couple years," Sisolak said. "That's how well this is going to be received."

Drivers were eager to participate in the race, which has not been given an exact date.

"I cannot believe it," AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly said in a video interview. "Are we going to take that main road? No! That's going to be insane."

Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said the driver who can resist Vegas' many temptations will have the edge.

"Knowing that it's a real party city, it's difficult," he said.

"How are you going to focus that weekend? There's going to be so much going on."

F1 previously struggled to make inroads in the United States, particularly after an infamous six-car race at Indianapolis in 2005 left huge damage to its reputation.

But the sport's popularity has been surging since the 2017 takeover by US-owned Liberty Media, with the Miami Grand Prix set to debut in May, followed by the longstanding US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in October.

"If you think of where we were in the United States just a couple of years ago, it was difficult to have one race full of people," Domenicali said. "Now we are fully booked."

The Italian added the Netflix docu-series Drive To Survive had turbocharged interest in F1 and expressed his desire for a fifth season. This is despite criticism from some drivers, including Red Bull's current world champion Max Verstappen who said the storylines had been manipulated.

Next year's race marks the return of F1 to Vegas, which was the site of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in the early 1980s, with the race held in the casino's car park.

It was held only twice, and was deeply unpopular with both the fans and drivers and dubbed "one of worst circuits Formula One has ever visited", but the Las Vegas GP will be a different proposition.

Greg Maffei, Liberty Media chief executive, is confident the race will boost the spirits and pocketbooks of the city's residents after the heavy toll exacted by Covid-19.

"Las Vegas, like many places, suffered during Covid. F1 suffered during Covid," he said. "But the opportunity to grow together, the opportunity to accelerate the economic development, it will be a big boost to the local population."

REUTERS