Las Vegas GP promotion a “massive eye-opener” for F1

A race on the famous Strip in Nevada will mark the first time that F1 and its owner Liberty Media have taken the act of race promotion in-house, rather than relying on a local third party to organise the event before the championship claims back a substantial fee.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has hinted that this experiment could be repeated for future new races should Vegas prove successful.

But the work to get a third round in the United States off the ground has initially left the F1 with a “shopping list” of questions to put to traditional race promoters as the championship gets up to speed after buying up nearby land to construct a permanent pit building and paddock site.

Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said the Vegas start-up operation had been a “massive eye-opener” for the series.

He told Autosport: “I think F1 have had a massive eye-opener about what it means to put an event on, that much I do know.

“Based on the questions we’ve had from the promotions team, talk about a shopping list.

“I’m not suggesting [traditional race promoters] are going to get a sympathetic ride [after this], but I think the whole experience has been enlightening for F1.”

Pringle added, however, that F1 and Liberty Media’s capacity to now create a bespoke event in their own image meant incumbent race promoters had to pay attention and prove “not above learning off other people”.

He said: “I will be going with a pen and paper. I will find it fascinating to see how they tackle it.

“I’m sure it will be an amazing spectacle. I wish it every success.

“What we need is a healthy championship. We just want every race to be the best it can be. That is beneficial for all of us.

“What I don’t want as a promoter is a championship that gets stodgy or in any way unexciting.

“I’m also intrigued to see what it feels like to not have a support race bill.

He added: “We recognise that Americans do sports entertainment much better than we do in Europe. And just because we’ve been doing this [at Silverstone] for 73 years, we’re not above learning off other people.”