The Las Vegas Grand Prix, Formula 1’s newest addition to its calendar, will not feature any support races, RaceFans has learned.
Ticket prices for the November street race, which will feature F1 drivers racing along the famous Strip, begin at $500 for “standing room only” three-day general admission passes and rise to $10,000 for four-day “Skybox” hospitality. But while even the cheapest tickets include “all-inclusive food and non-alcoholic beverages”, F1 will be the only racing on offer.The absence of support races is partly a consequence of the unusual schedule arrangements for a race which will take place in the centre of a major tourist destination. The event has been put on with the agreement of local casino owners who are eager to minimise the disruption to their businesses caused by the closure of surrounding roads.
Instead of the usual Friday to Sunday schedule, F1’s Las Vegas weekend will run from Thursday to Saturday, with all track sessions taking place after sunset. First and second practice will be held at 6:30pm and 10pm on Thursday respectively. Final practice and qualifying will take place during the same time slots the following day and the race will begin at 10pm on Saturday night – the first grand prix held outside of a Sunday since 1985.
F1 is constructing a dedicated paddock facility for the Las Vegas race. A 6.1-kilometre course has been mapped out featuring 17 corners. A three-year deal has been agreed for the grand prix but city authorities recently approved a request to permit F1’s use of the public roads used by the circuit for up to 10 years.
The Las Vegas GP is one of three rounds in the USA on the 2023 F1 calendar. Last year’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix was supported by W Series and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. W Series was also due to support the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas prior to the series’ collapse mid-season, though the Masters Historics and Endurance Legends events for classic F1 cars did go ahead.
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The last F1 race weekend to feature no support races was the first Qatar Grand Prix in 2021, which was added to the calendar at short notice due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix will feature pairs of support races for Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East.
F1 returns to Las Vegas this year for the first time since its short-lived race in the car park of the Caesar’s Palace casino. That event was held from 1981 to 1982 and featured support races including America’s Can-Am series. At one stage the promoters announced plans to hold a joint event for F1 and the CART IndyCar series on the circuit, but that was blocked by the FIA.
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David
28th February 2023, 12:56
So they’ll be opening up the track to normal traffic during the day? Goodbye grip.
I thought the rush to put races on in the Middle East 20 years ago was pretty grubby but this Las Vegas “race” tops them all. More like a Katy Perry show than a sporting event.
At least there will be an all you can eat buffet so the Vegas punters don’t have to go too long without a snack.
SteveR (@stever)
28th February 2023, 14:31
I suspect it’ll be more like an ‘all you can stand in line and wait hours for’ type buffet. What a disaster this event will be for spectators and fans alike…..
elchinero (@elchinero)
28th February 2023, 21:25
Hard to argue with your take …
Simon
1st March 2023, 1:15
@stever @elchinero
My thoughts exactly (but would’t be surprised at all, if in 2024 – ticket price increases but the “all-inclusive food and non-alcoholic beverages” package is conveniently removed…)
Jere (@jerejj)
28th February 2023, 15:51
@David
Monaco circuit roads also open up to normal traffic outside session times during the race weekend (presumably, the same in Albert Park, Baku, Marina Bay, & in Miami with the small public road part), so nothing different in this regard.
Dimoose82
28th February 2023, 16:29
Incorrect about Albert park. It is closed for a few weeks.
drmouse (@drmouse)
28th February 2023, 16:45
And we all know how great that is…
Jere (@jerejj)
28th February 2023, 18:01
@drmouse True
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
1st March 2023, 12:02
Baku is closed off until after the race as well. It’s weird when all the gates are opened as opens up routes that you had to walk for ages to get round!
some racing fan
28th February 2023, 23:49
Well, I can say one thing- it’s better than Caesars Palace in the early 80s. And it looks like an overtaking-friendly track.
But to be honest as a person who has been to Vegas a number of times it is not a place for the classy kind of folk. A large majority of people on this site would not enjoy visiting it. It has some truly great restaurants and you can get anything you want there but nothing is real about that place. In addition to it being more expensive to attend than Monaco (I think), Vegas is off the scale in terms of its in-your-face gaudiness, tackiness, hedonism and nicotine-smelling casino lobbies. The classy, snobby Bordeaux-drinking European crowd that makes up the F1 circus hated Vegas in the early 80s and it’s all-you-can-eat buffets for $3.99, and although it is a hell of a lot more refined and cosmopolitian now than it was then the general reaction will not be much different now as it was then.
SteveR (@stever)
1st March 2023, 16:06
Thanks for this comment, I couldn’t have said it better. I’ve been there exactly once and got out as quickly as I could; I couldn’t stand the fake smell of the place and on arriving (with my father) only wanted to leave, which I did early the next morning. Don’t waste your time or money there.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
28th February 2023, 13:02
Las Vegas is looking like the perfect F1 event for spectators, as long as you hate motor racing and have thousands of dollars to spend.
elchinero (@elchinero)
28th February 2023, 21:29
“the perfect F1 event for spectators, as long as you hate motor racing and have thousands of dollars to spend.” Oh, so true. There will for people REALLY ramped up over inconvenience that the race poses. “Ah din’ knw ’bout these IndyCars.”
ykiki (@ykiki)
28th February 2023, 21:52
You’re really overthinking things when expecting the average American to know IndyCars exist, lol. Insert NASCAR 😉
russ99
28th February 2023, 13:09
I live in the US and it’s cheaper for me to go to Europe to see a Grand Prix than go to Las Vegas with everything ridiculously marked up to cash in.
Shimks (@shimks)
28th February 2023, 13:18
That’s appalling!
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
28th February 2023, 14:18
In fairness, that also applies to Silverstone now.
drmouse (@drmouse)
28th February 2023, 16:48
True, my brother is flying to Japan, and it’s costing him less for the flights, accommodation and grand strand tickets than just a general access pass to Silverstone.
Others I know go to Spain for the same reason, but the fact it’s true for Japan really hammers home how expensive Silverstone is (along with many other European Grand Prix)
some racing fan
28th February 2023, 23:51
Yeah me too. Also I personally can’t stand Las Vegas so I won’t be going. Much cheaper to go to Austin, Montreal or even Miami, as I have friends I can stay with in South Florida.
I luv chicken
28th February 2023, 13:28
We hate all the internet scammers, around these days, but these guys take the cake. What a shameless group of money grabbers. Cheers, to any racing organization, that declined an invitation to race at this smoke and mirrors event. ( wonder how much Vegas F1 group were trying to extort from support racers?)
StephenH
28th February 2023, 13:36
If this race ends up deciding the championship I think I’m going to throw up …
Jere (@jerejj)
28th February 2023, 15:53
@StephenH LOL, but very much possible in a tight championship battle, although more likely sooner if Max gets a considerable points lead like last season.
some racing fan
28th February 2023, 23:52
It just might! But personally better Vegas than Abu Dhabi… and it’s happened twice before in LV…
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
28th February 2023, 13:54
As I have said all along – Liberty have Zero interest in motor racing.
They just want control of wealthy cities for a weekend to sell merchandise.
This is why tracks like Spa are doomed folks :(
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
28th February 2023, 15:28
Agreed @nullapax – welcome to the beginning of the end (or was that Miami?)
Simon
1st March 2023, 1:18
Both (sadly…)
Dex
28th February 2023, 14:00
There aren’t any racing fans, so no need for more racing action; it’s as simple as that. What an awful place for an F1 race, what an awful place in general… Kitsch, creating and exploiting people’s addictions, then some more Kitsch…
Johns
28th February 2023, 14:09
I got really excited when i first heard about a race in vegas, so close to my home. But as the event details get worked out, not too excited anymore. I went to the Phoenix GP decades ago and that was fun and approachable by the average tourist. Sounds like Vegas will be a VIP only event. So much for equity for the fans.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
28th February 2023, 14:18
This race must be one of Liberty’s worst ideas. It’s just pure money grabbing with hardly a thought for the regular F1 fan. On a crap circuit as well. Ridiculous.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
28th February 2023, 14:40
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.
Win on Saturday, closed on Sunday.
The Dolphins
28th February 2023, 19:56
More like “repent on Sunday” this race is a sin even for Sin City standards, what a scam.
Ron
28th February 2023, 15:11
I’ll watch the replay on the ESPN app in the morning while I have breakfast.
Calling it a money grab is an understatment!
PeterG
28th February 2023, 15:22
Let’s be honest. This is nothing more than a Liberty Media vanity project.
It’s not about the sport, It’s not about the fans….. It’s purely about cringe over the top spectacle that is going to be a turn off for most of F1’s fanbase just as the stuff they tried to force at COTA a few years ago & much of what surrounded Miami last year was.
The circuit isn’t going to be especially good and the race will likely be a DRS-fest with long & powerful DRS zones on every straight they can cram one on because they will deem even the easiest, most boring of DRS pass an incredible spectacle that proves Las Vegas is a great place for F1 for decades to come. It isn’t about the racing, It never was, It’s about F1 been in Las Vegas so Liberty can claim great success.
The Dolphins
28th February 2023, 20:14
Artificial overtakes in an artificial city. They will tout it as the “race with the highest number of overtakes in 2023” to pat themselves on the back
Newfangled (@newfangled)
28th February 2023, 18:58
Evermore obscene ticket prices, events like this, and others held in countries with human rights violations. Not pretty.
The Dolphins
28th February 2023, 19:59
I was on the fence about watching this race but no longer. It’s going on the list of races I’ll skip this year; Las Vegas, say “hello” to Saudi Arabia.
stefano (@alfa145)
28th February 2023, 22:53
does anybody know what motivation did the FIA give for refusing the joint event with CART Indy?
SteveR (@stever)
1st March 2023, 0:12
From Wikipedia:
The FIA was not the sanctioning body for CART; CART was generating world wide interest and looked like it might be serious competition to F1 for fans. CART teams were building their own cars at the time and the series was very exciting; the FIA didn’t want to further legitimatize CART to fans by basically spotlighting the series would be my best guess.
Kevin
10th March 2023, 17:55
I look forward to the F1 race I can see most of the track from my Condo @ the Marriott my unit is on the top floor facing Harmon and the entire strip. No need to buy a ticket.