Did Las Vegas hit the right notes with its difficult second album?

As any musician will testify, the second album is often the hardest to make.

The pressure to deliver a creative product the that exceeds expectations can often be the undoing of many artists as their musical career bombs.

The same can be said for F1 races. After the initial hype of being the latest bright shiny attraction, selling tickets the second time around can often prove tricky, especially when the first offering received such mixed reviews.

The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was released to a tough crowd. Cynical at F1’s attempts to cash in on the championship’s new-found popularity, the local residents and businesses of Las Vegas bemoaned road closures, traffic and the fact famous landmarks were obscured from view to accommodate the track.

In Europe, many scoffed at the prices for tickets – the hospitality packages in particular received much of the focus in the lead-up to the race in 2023.

As for that grand prix itself, it suffered so much negative PR in the run-up, it was perhaps not a surprise that it continued throughout the weekend.

There were the delayed sessions times, already late at night and pushed even further back after Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari hoovered up a loose drain cover.

The drivers were mixed in their feelings for the 2023 Las Vegas GP. Some were positive, others such as Max Verstappen used a football analogy and said that while Monaco was Champions League the race in Vegas was “National League” with a reference to non-league football in the English football pyramid.

The drivers were also placed out of their comfort zone as they were paraded in front of this new audience like prized cattle. It was over the top and gaudy. All rather Las Vegas.

But that said, the actual race was entertaining and the Saturday evening was sold out.

For the 2024 instalment the promoters expressed a willingness to learn from their mistakes and make improvements.

For the F1 fraternity who move from track to track, the smallest improvements can result in a large uptick in morale. For instance, the fact the practice sessions were marginally shifted forward a few hours, thankfully coupled with no delays due to loose drain covers, meant that staff felt noticeably better on Saturday race day than they did 12 months ago when they were running on empty.

However, races are not run for staff…