Las Vegas
United States
​
Track: Las Vegas Strip Circuit
The Las Vegas Grand Prix was the most anticipated race of the season. Ever since it's announcement back in late 2022, it grabbed a lot of attention as Formula One will be racing in high speeds in the streets of Las Vegas. This isn't the first time that F1 has ever raced in Las Vegas. The sport has held a race in Las Vegas dating back to 1981 where they raced at Caesars Palace.
Onboard Lap using EA SPORTS F1® 24
Caesars Palace Grand Prix
Las Vegas Caesars Palace Track Layout 1981 - 1982 (racingcircuit.info)
Turns: 14
Laps: 75
Formula One raced at Caesars Palace back in 1981 - 1982 at a large car parking lot where they constructed the track. However, the race was a big failure. The race had poor facilities, didn't have a lot of attendees and the massively disappointing track layout for drivers and fans. Teams struggled in the pit lane because of the pit lane having no garage facilities as they had to stay out in the heat, Drivers can't get enough of the track's repetitive layout and ticket sales were very low and didn't attract a lot of spectators.
Formula One first raced at Caesars Palace in October 17, 1981 and served as the fifteenth and final race for the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship. This was the first time F1 has ever raced in Las Vegas but, had financially failed due to very poor attendees, weak service and facilities for both spectators and teams and the lack of quality in the track and the racing itself not being able to provide as much enthusiasm unlike the other few grand prix races.​
​
​
For the most part of the 75 - lap race around Caesars Palace, not a lot of action was performed during the grand prix. Overtakes and wheel to wheel action was almost completely non-existent due to the bizarre track layout especially the infamous repetitive turns 1 - 11 which comprises nearly identical turns and corners making the racing experience for the drivers too repetitive and less enjoyable for racing. Many find the track to be too boring and small. The whole circuit is only 2.26 miles or 3.65 km, making it relatively small during it's era and even to today's standards in modern Formula One. Overall, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a commercial and disastrous failure of bringing Formula One racing into the United States and would only go on to host the grand prix until 1982 due to its financial failures.
Winners
1981 : Alan Jones
1982: Michele Alboreto
WINNERS
Nelson Piquet may have won the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship, but Williams Driver Alan Jones, was the first winner of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
Las Vegas GP
Before it's announcement, there were constant speculation and rumors regarding the return to Las Vegas despite its failure more than 40 years ago. But when F1 announced its surprising return to Nevada, everyone was excited. Not only F1 would be back racing at Sin City, but the fact that they revealed about racing in the iconic Las Vegas Strip. The Idea of racing in the Las Vegas Strip was highly controversial since dealing with traffic would be a problem for all the residents around Las Vegas, as well as the decision for the company to re-pave the road in the strip since the F1 cars aren't suitable in the type of asphalt that was already placed in the strip.
Just a few months after the announcement back in February of 2022, they revealed the track layout for the grand prix. This led through a much bigger controversy as the track layout revealed for the grand prix wasn't something that the fans hoped for. The track layout once again, looked too simple and rather boring for racing. Fans feared that the grand prix might face another boring race just like the last time Formula One raced in Caesars Palace.
Concept renders of the track from 2022
Around November of 2022, Formula One launched a party at the Las Vegas Strip celebrating their return to Nevada. The party at the Strip closed down the roads for the F1 cars to put on a show by doing high speed shows and donuts on the strip to keep up the hype for its return. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Sergio Perez and Alexander Albon attended the launch party and performed at the Las Vegas Strip.
F1's Las Vegas Launch Party November 2022
LAS VEGAS STRIP CIRCUIT TRACK LAYOUT
​
Turns: 17
DRS Zones: 2
Length: 3.83 mi (6.20km)
Fastest Lap: George Russell
1:32:312
​
Construction for the track began immediately during early 2023 and took nearly six months to get it complete. They had to assemble a lot of the facilities and hospitalities for all the fans to enjoy. Most of the materials for the walls and flood lights were borrowed from the Miami Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix. They also had to construct a three-story paddock building in the land that F1 purchased to place their global headquarters for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. By the time November came, the track was finished and ready to host the first Las Vegas Grand Prix since 1982.
Before and After Construction
Formula One finally returned to Las Vegas and raced in at the strip for the very first time. F1 cars now roaring past the famous landmarks around the strip in high speeds reaching about 356.4 km/h which makes it the highest speed recorded on a Formula One car. The race weekend was great but had problems, during the first practice session, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, accidentally hit a man-hole cover at the strip in the middle of doing a flying lap. This resulted a red flag halting the entire session which quickly ended FP1. One of the few problems are the cold temperatures. This resulted in cars not having enough grip on the track causing certain moments for drivers to lock-up into turns and corners making it tricky for drivers to set laps.
WINNERS
​
2023: Max Verstappen
2024: George Russell
​
Yet Despite all these moments, the race weekend was a success. The grand prix surprisingly delivered a lot of great action during the weekend than expected. The strip was able to provide a lot of awesome wheel to wheel moments for drivers and granting them a lot of overtaking opportunities, especially during the final lap of lap 50 for the battle of 2nd place. Ferrari Driver Charles Leclerc set of to chase down Red Bull Driver Sergio Perez to secure second place in the race. Leclerc managed to gain DRS at the strip and by the time he made it down to turns 14 - 16, Leclerc successfully overtook Perez at the last lap which was very dramatic and exciting for the fans to watch. Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix and was the first to do so in over 40 years. And later on in 2024, during the massive changes within the teams performance, Las Vegas in 2024 was able to deliver another great race. Mercedes Driver George Russell managed to win the race with a very good racecraft over the weekend as well as his teamate Lewis Hamilton, who managed to secure 2nd place starting from P10 and finishing all the way up to P2. And not only that, Max Verstappen would managed to achieve his 4th World Champion that night in Las Vegas.
​
Overall, The Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success and was able to deliver a decent amount of racing action. According to the FIA and Las Vegas, Liberty Media signed a 10-year contract for the sport to race under the lights in Las Vegas.