Formula One undoubtedly rode its luck during its four-day residency in Las Vegas yet somehow broke with the city’s oldest tradition and came out on top.
Transforming the entertainment capital of America into a 3.8-mile racetrack was never going to be straightforward, and after a stuttering start, it felt like F1’s $500 million gamble to return to Las Vegas might be a busted flush.
In the days leading up to main event, the focus had been on overinflated ticket prices, disgruntled locals and angry fans, but in the form of a 50-lap grand prix against one of racing’s most spectacular backdrops, F1 had one last roll of the dice.
Deliver a thriller to match the hype and all the disruption to the city and issues along the way could be somehow justified. Deliver a dud and serious questions would be asked.
Earlier in the weekend, world champion Max Verstappen had labelled the grand prix “99 percent show and 1 percent sport” in one of a series killer lines, seemingly aimed at the jugular of the event.
And while there was an awful lot of truth in Verstappen’s statement, it was the sport of F1 racing — 1 percent or otherwise — that meant its owners finished up on the huge fortune it had sank into the event.
A high-stakes bet
The stakes had become dizzyingly high in the months preceding the race. Formula One, acting as a race promoter for the first time in its history, did the vast majority of cheerleading, hyping the race at every opportunity to anyone who would listen.
Average ticket prices hit a record asking price of $1,667, including one package that sold for $50,000 per head to access a VIP suite above Turn 1. Sky boxes with views over the team garages came at the slightly more modest $8,000 to $13,000 per head, but the VIP experience was questionable when guests were greeted by static-inducing red polyester carpets and tacky furnishings that promised, but didn’t quite deliver on, an “old Vegas” vibe.
Along with the expectation of three days of track action (more on that later), the VIP suites offered the best view of a lavish opening ceremony. Kylie Minogue and John Legend performed on the pit straight under a drone show, while F1’s 20 drivers were presented to a half-empty grandstand via trapdoors in one of five raised stages on…
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