The last time Formula One came to Las Vegas was in 1981 and 1982, with a back-to-back race staged in the Caesars Palace hotel parking lot.
In 2023, F1 will not only return to the Vegas Strip but in doing so, it will make the United States the only country on the calendar to host three F1 races in one season. Beyond the Austin race that’s been going on for several years, Miami’s race is joining the calendar this May and the race’s tickets sold out in one day. With the existing races in Mexico City and Montreal, F1 will be coming to North America five time in the next season.
Liberty Media Corp. brought F1 to the US as it bought the rights to the series in 2017 and has since targeted expansion with a boost from the Netflix docuseries called “Drive To Survive.” The season four of the series went to air ahead of the F1 season opener and ranked first in 33 countries. On other news, ESPN said the viewership for Sunday’s race in Saudi Arabia has been the largest F1 audience since 1995.
President and CEO of Liberty Media Greg Maffei has told The Associated Press, ““The momentum of Formula One has been demonstrated over the last several seasons and we’ve seen that potential turn into a reality as we watch our fanbase really grow around the world, but especially here in the US.” This is similar to COTA president Bobby Epstein’s belief that there is enough interest in the US to sustain the races, referencing 300,000 spectators last year and already selling out tickets for the October race. Both dismissing any worries of oversaturation in the US. Take note that the US also has NASCAR and IndyCar races.
F1 is promoting the race with the media company and has not revealed the exact race date, other than it will be on a Saturday night in November on a temporary 3.8-mile street course that includes the Las Vegas Boulevard.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak expects 170,000 visitors during the race weekend – estimating an economic impact of half a billion dollars accounting for 400,000 nights of hotels rooms.
Michael Andretti, son of 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti, aims to create a two-car team with a $420 million takeover of the existing Sauber team. He’s looking to bring in Californian IndyCar title contender Colton Herta to F1, Herta will be evaluated by the team later this year after signing a testing contract with McLaren.
With all these, Maffei emphasized F1 already has an American team owned by American businessman Gene Haas, called Haas F1. However, it was the worst team in F1 last year with Andretti calling to sell the F1 team to him.
Formula One and Liberty Media Corp. both believe the series needs more American representation but is firm not to admit a team owner just to chase the US dollar.
More information on the races can be found on f1lasvegasgrandprix.com.
