How Formula One ended up racing in Las Vegas

For the third time during the 2023 season, Formula One is racing in the United States but this time it will be different from the previous two in Miami and Austin. It’s a special occasion and it has been circled in red on the calendar since the day of the official announcement came on March 31st 2022. That’s why Formula 1 is racing in Las Vegas. This will not be the first time that the circus arrives in Sin City. Two races have already taken place here in 1981 and 1982 but the scenario was completely different from the lavish and spectacular that awaits the drivers from November 16th. Back then the race took place into an anonymous circuit built entirely in the car park of the Caesars Palace casino. This time it will be completely different. For the occasion a new circuit has been designed between the city’s streets in a project that costed $80million just in re-paving. As reported by Il Post, the construction works of the circuit have caused quite a few inconveniences due to traffic in the city center and an almost total lack of communication between citizens and the race organisation. The payback will be one of the most spectacular moments in F1’s history with cars racing over 200 miles per hour across the Strip, Las Vegas’ most famous and known street. It will be a night race: 50 laps with 14-turn high-speed for each lap.

So, how Formula 1 ended up racing in Las Vegas? Money will be the easiest and most immediate answer. But there’s more to it. Since Liberty Media took over Formula One Group’s property in 2017, the American company has tirelessly worked to increase the interest towards Formula 1 all over the world. They achieved it mainly thanks to two strategies. First, they launched Drive to Survive, the Netflix’s series that completely changed the perception around this sport simply by adding a little bit of drama in the storylines and achieving a worldwide success so big that set a new standard for every sports production. Then, they brought Grand Prixes where Formula 1 has never been before, like in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, or exploiting the success of some driver to bring it back in places where they haven’t been for ages, the best example comes with Max Verstappen and the Zandvoort’s Grand Prix in Netherlands. The union of these two elements has flowed into the idea of a Las Vegas F1’s race, originally birthed in 2019 without seeing any real evolution until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is clear: cashing in the F1’s popularity in the United States while creating an event that, for glamour and popularity, can compete with the Super Bowl. In order to convince all the stakeholders involved, Liberty Media has worked behind the scenes for over a year and once they got the green light, they acted like they’ve never done before. As reported by The Athletic, usually Formula One Group connects with a local race promoter once they decided a location but for the Las Vegas’ Grand Prix they decided to take charge of the organizational part too.

And this is the part of the story where we talk about money. Among the many costs incurred, Formula One Group has spent $240 million to buy a 24 acres area, the site for pitlane and paddocks. An expensive fee but it will be easy to get this money back: as estimated by The Financial Times revenues for Formula One Group could be around $500 million just for the next race and as per Applied Analysis’ data Las Vegas total income for 2023 will be $1,3 billion. There’s so much money at stake that the original deal set to expire in 2025 has already been renegotiated until 2032 before a single traffic light has been turned on. To some insiders, Las Vegas’ Grand Prix has all the potential to become a new Formula 1 classic and a regular fixture for American sports’ fans as it will always take place the week before Thanksgiving, a period where MLB’s World Series have come to an end while NBA and NFL are in the middle of their regular season. To increase the worldwide attention, Liberty Media has also come to terms with tradition as the race will take place on Saturday night and not on Sunday afternoon. On top of that, the 2023 edition of the Las Vegas’ Grand Prix has all the elements to be a great soiree. Max Verstappen have already won his third consecutive drivers’ championship and the drivers’ line-up for the upcoming 2024 season has been almost filled. There’s nothing to compete for, except the curiosity of discovering this new track and the pride of becoming the first winner of the brand-new Las Vegas’ Grand Prix.