I'll make a wild prediction...3 red flags, 1 hour of delays to clean up the track, Gasly or Ocon win, Landau third, total of 9 cars finish the race. Maybe just 8.
Remember this headline from a news article in July when they wanted $1500 per head? Formula One threatens to block Las Vegas clubs’ race views unless they pay millions in fees: sources In the words of Mona Lisa Vito, "Well I guess that plan is moot".
We're here and having a blast so far. I would give Las Vegas an "A" for a first-year event considering the size and scope of this thing. Yes, some things have gone wrong but many things have gone right and I'm certain there are some lessons they will take away for next year. Unfortunately, I'm bummed to see so much hate for this event but I guess haters are going to hate. A few things that could help for next year would be: - Have support races. There is too much dead time between sessions with nothing going on especially when it's so late. Maybe something like Ferrari Challenge? - Move the times of the races earlier in the day. There really is no reason for this to be a night race. It could actually be better business for the casinos and restaurants if the races were during the day. It would actually be cheaper for F1 since they wouldn't need to put up all the lighting. - The ticket prices are what they are. We've gone to a couple of F1 races this year and there is no such thing as a cheap F1 ticket. The market will dictate that and I suspect we'll see lower prices next year but we'll see. I do think the last minute discounting is going to result in fewer people buying tickets well in advance for next year and waiting to see if more deals like this pop up. Yes, they charged too much this year but I think the lesson has been learned. - There could be more F1 things to see around the city that don't require a ticket. Montreal does an excellent job with this. - More Jumbotrons around the track so people can see everything going on during the race. All in all, we'll likely be back and hope the LV Grand Prix has a long and successful run with F1.
Good post. Watching qualifying I really want to be at one of the races in the future. Once they figure out the kinks. The city looks amazing and I love all the F1 stuff/cars in the casinos. And you can't beat the proximity to your hotel on this one. Even better than Monaco where most stay in Nice.
earlier in the day, but still in the dark. 1. there's something special about a night race. 2. no one wants to see all that brown. 3. vegas is based on lights/lighting/pizzazz 4.day time would inconvenience everyone else who's not into the race...and man...if you want to hear complaining.... (cite: people who move into neighborhoods next to race tracks and pretend they didn't know) Image Unavailable, Please Login
I can't wait for this week end to be over, and F1 going back to some sort of normality. The championship is over, so this race is irrelevant anyway. Conclusions will be reached from all sides, if it has been a success or a failure, depending which are your priorities. I hope this is a one-off, and not a blueprint for more GPs in future.
It will be ok. If the championship was in contention the hoopla would match the excitement. The track looks good, the layout is not horrible, the fans who have shown up seem to be mostly having a good time, the start times need to be pulled back a bit. If they make the adjustments they need to make, this would be no worse than Singapore.
https://www.wsj.com/sports/formula-one-las-vegas-grand-prix-1752f1fc?mod=e2tw It's a paywall, so I can't read it, but for those who have WSJ.
https://www.ktnv.com/news/vegas-grand-prix/formula-1-was-highest-grossing-weekend-ever-for-mgm-resorts-according-to-cfo "Highest grossing weekend for us in the company's history"
So from the local perspective, locals didn't like the disruptions because they didn't like the traffic for months (construction is all over the Valley and seems to never end even if its not "F1" related). They also felt the race was visually too intrusive. The look of the Strip is a bit of pride for locals. But the biggest issue is Liberty Media kinda took the locals for granted. There was no outreach, no "special off track" activities for locals or kids to get involved, no real interest in attracting local ticket purchases (not just the price but the starting time of the event seemed a bit like a slap in the local's faces), and no real counter to the massive anti-F1 social media campaign by influences. They should have bought a few to shut the others up. And lastly not all businesses did well -- the Strip did well near the race, everywhere else was "meh". So for all the hassle, the big benefits were in specific areas. People forget that those who work in the Strip live off the Strip and spend their money later, but that's another subject. However I think LVCVA have learned some of these lessons. I actually got a call from the local sales department yesterday when I emailed them a question. The set up will be a lot easier next year and faster with less traffic issues (albeit there will be some). The "Bellagio tree" fiasco is being solved and won't be an issue next year. And the construction at the Mirage will probably create as much traffic issues as the F1 set up this year. I honestly don't know why qualifying can't be at 9PM -10PM. That would help. And I believe they will add a support event. They feared it was too much to chew for their first event. There were a lot of overblown "what ifs" that never happened. People did show up and have a good time (OK, the first day was bad but overall, people had fun). The visitors spent a lot of money and actually tipped well, the workers could get to their jobs without much hassle or additional time, and the racing action was actually quite good despite what people felt about the track layout. Personally, I wasn't expecting much in entertainment but several of the live performances were really good. I wish there was a support event to go with it for the money though. And they need much more outreach to the community to get more onboard. But the event itself -- honestly one of the most fun F1 events I've been too live. If only Ferrari beat that Debbie downer Verstappen. Or if Perez did because a ton of people from South of the Border came in support of him and RB in general.
You just summed up the first ever street race of NASCAR in Chicago this year. Much apprehension, little negative impact, lots of $ gained and people had a good time (here the chaos wasn't caused by the man hole covers but by a thunderstorm delaying racing).
Well said. I particularly like the Ferrari Challenge idea although late November is well after their season ends at Mugello. The line for F1 experience at Venetian was brutal for what amounted to a pop up store. It was a quarter mile long to the Walgreens an hour before opening. Bellagio grandstands needed audio badly. At least play the fountains music. Next year I’ll have to do the Fountains Club hospitality.
My wife and I had a great time! First F1 event live and planning to return next year. Probably will consider different grandstands, as we were in the west Harmon zone and entertainment was limited to what was shared on a few screens. Would be nice if they had live entertainment spread around the grandstands since there is so much downtime. Otherwise, only nit was they hid the screen for our area behind the lighting so it was impossible to keep tabs on track positions, etc without using my phone. Oh… and maybe changing up the food offerings a little each night.
It's funny that the drivers and other figures such as Bernie, but especially Max, are publicly shouting that this race is a waste of time, but Liberty Media and F1 in general have been clear with everyone that the Las Vegas race is entirely a cash-grab so venues that barely break even, such as Spa, can continue. 'Take one for the team boys, we know it sucks'
Yeah, it's like Porsche building the Cayenne and Macan so that they can continue to make GT3/RS cars.
Finally catching up a bit from a hectic couple months - including attending the LV GP. My wife and I had a great time at the Grand Prix. It was a pretty fantastic race and the track, with its blazing speed, was pretty interesting for a city circuit. But I have to say - the sight lines from the paddock (was there for qualifying) and the starting grid grandstand (race day), weren’t great. There’s no view of the fantastic lights of the strip from there (or the Sphere), unless standing on the roof of the paddock. The paddock also had no visible outdoor screens, so you had to have timing on your phone or go inside to see what was happening. For the grandstands, the angle of the seats and track made watching the race tough - but at least there were big screens you could see (ironically, on top of the paddock building across the track). I’d also say the race atmosphere was kind of lacking. Most people we spoke with - this was their first race and they hadn’t a clue what was going on. And with no supporting races, there were hours of milling about without a lot to do. If I come back, I’d probably try to sit by turn 12. Turn 14 would also be great, but there were no grandstands there, and no obvious place to put them as the whole corner is built up or part of LV Blvd which has to be reopened each day. Moving up and down the strip during race weekend was challenging and slow. We walked from the Aria to the Venetian and back a few times, checking out various F1 related pop-ups in hotels along the way. But with the track on LV Blvd, you could only cross the road in a few spots - mainly the elevated pedestrian bridges. And the escalators/stairs up were generally choke points for pedestrian flow. I liked the night qualifying and race, but it definitely could have been a couple hours earlier. Midnight is late...and from the paddock to the strip, it was either queuing for a 45min coach bus ride or a 2.5 mile walk. Neither ideal at 2:30am. IMHO the casinos didn't seem as busy as I expected. Hotels and restaurants also had availability. Locals seemed frustrated - the track inhibited enough flow that their commutes to/from their jobs were crazy long, but the ones I spoke to anecdotally appreciated the retail sales that were happening. If they did try to move the time earlier (not sure about all the FIA rules about amount of time between FP1/FP2 and between FP3/Qualy), and added a few supporting series, it'll be better. So would opening the track after the race and letting attendees walk back to the strip via the track - it's much shorter and fun to do at circuits that allow it. Overall, the organizers got it done and it feels like a success - especially for the spectacle on TV. For comparison, we went to Montreal GP for the first time this year. Montreal was engaging all day - so many fun support series that it was hard to find time to even leave your seat and wander.
For a race fan there is no better if one picks only 1 race to attend. Canada. Never fails to impress as does the city. Vegas is a TV drama.
F1 was a huge win for Las Vegas.... Nevada, Las Vegas Strip casinos post 2nd-highest gaming wins on strength of F1 impact (msn.com) Nevada, Las Vegas Strip casinos post 2nd-highest gaming wins on strength of F1 impact LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip drove Nevada to its second-highest win on record in November, validating some expectations surrounding the return of Formula One racing to the valley. The Strip’s win — $820,992,082 — was a gaudy 22.6% higher than November a year ago. The number fell about $14 million short of the Strip’s all-time high in July 2023 ($834,898,954). Statewide, casinos won $1.37 billion, about $30 million short of July’s record. The win was 12.5% above figures from last November. With cones disrupting traffic all around the racecourse and construction changing the face of the Las Vegas Strip, there was considerable pushback to the F1 race right up to the event. Many believed the headache just wasn’t worth it. But the numbers released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board showed there was a big payday that came with the event. Race promoters and county officials believe it will be a bigger payday next year, when some of the wrinkles are ironed out. “The four-day period beginning on November 16th was extremely profitable for both gaming and non-gaming activity on the Las Vegas Strip with some properties estimating those days established all-time record levels of revenue,” according to Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst. “The event’s success was more evident at luxury properties where the Las Vegas Strip’s baccarat increase accounted for 78.6% of the state’s growth this month. Additionally, the 25 licensees that are included in the $72 million or over revenue range for annual gross gaming win on the Las Vegas Strip increased by $160.0 million or 25.8% compared to last November and accounted for over 100.0% of the state’s entire increase for the month,” Lawton said. Figures released by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) on Thursday show that tourism volume also went up in November, with the number of visitors at 3,292,800. The Gaming Control Board’s numbers a month ago suggested the November win would be high based on percentage fee collections. So far in December, the state has collected even more than last month, with $85.4 million coming in with four days remaining in the month. That could be a result December openings of Durango Casino & Resort and Fontainebleau Las Vegas. So far, Nevada is 4.7% ahead of pace for the 2024 fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to the end of June.
--“The event’s success was more evident at luxury properties where the Las Vegas Strip’s baccarat increase accounted for 78.6% of the state’s growth this month.-- Not sensing Liberty or the LUXURY casino's think lower prices are on the horizon for the majority of fans who are not the dwellers in LUXURY LOL. What minor adjustments are made, fans looking for a fun weekend without a luxury budget are about to be disappointed for next year. Sad but thats F1 now. Liberty has positioned itself for high returns on low operating expenses to enable higher prices for the promoters at circuits or city street course. F1 is now officially not a fan friendly event at a majority of circuits. Average or less than luxury fans are not at all the priority. Thats not a prescription for long term survival, and Liberty is hardly in the long term business in F1. If they were circuits would be the focus. Circuits are on life support now if they dont see this coming. They are in jeopardy. City circuits offer more to see via the actual location. This is by design and circuits really cannot compete with that. They are not large enough to do so in most cases. Australia and Canada are exceptions. They offer both especially Canada. Liberty is catering to the more than casual fan by offering travel to cities instead of a proper circuit. You dont need real fans or hard core fans, just fans who find F1 an interesting brief experience coupled with travel to a city they are also interested in. Thanks Drive to Survive lol! The sorta interested fans in lock down now travel........until they dont if the sport and the actual racing do not improve. Oh and having Andretti is not the solution. He is late to this party and with 3 races in the US he is not needed. Liberty needs the next 2 years to be good until the 26 reg's change are in force. I dont see F1 finding itself any more interesting than it is and its easier for me to ignore it now. Tickets were avail in Yas of all kinds when I was in Dubai last in Nov. Not even tempted. More fun to be had doing the business and events I had planned.
