F1 coming to Vegas !

[Southwest Dave]

That's amazing Mark, great pictures and description! It certainly has got my F1 juices flowing, I'm buzzing. Thanks for taking the time out to report this. Brilliant!

Dave (Wishing he was there)

[Mark Sedenquist]

Dave (Wishing he was there)

Yep, we were thinking of you when we drove the course.

We actually drove the Strip portion last night about 12:00 am PST on the way home after dinner out. It's going to be wild.

And the timing will be a lot more convenient for you to watch. Practices and Qualifying will be ~ 6 am UK time and the actual race start will be 4 am in the UK.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Megan and I drove the Strip again this afternoon about 2 pm. Traffic actually seemed lighter to us than normal and delays were minimal.

The weirdest thing to me is that the county plans to reopen the Strip every day.

As planned:

The roads that make up the circuit will start to shut from 5pm on each of the three days of F1 track activity and reopen from 2am.

What I can't imagine is how they will keep the track clean if cars and trucks are allowed to drive on it for several hours each day. Plus the crash fences will have to be built and take down three times over the course of the F1 schedule where they cross the Strip. Seems crazed to me.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

What I can't imagine is how they will keep the track clean if cars and trucks are allowed to drive on it for several hours each day.

This really is strange and I doubt the drivers will like it at all. Over the weekend they lay down rubber during practice and qualifying and get used to the grip available. They don't enjoy going 'off line' because of the dirt and marbles (shredded pieces of tyre) so having cars and trucks rumbling through isn't going to help! Especially so on a street circuit where there is little to no run off areas, just a concrete barrier for company! These circuits really test the skill and courage of the drivers as with modern health and safety standards, on modern, purpose built tracks there are large run off areas and 'Kitty litter' traps that allows them to take bigger risks in overtaking as you are more likely to be able to recover and get away with losing a place or two rather than wrecking your race and the car.

As an afterthought. Could it be possible it's a limited opening and the actual race track will be off limits? ( I'm thinking if the track is one side of the Strip they open the other)

Dave

[Southwest Dave]

Hey Mark, what's your take on the level of disruption that F1 has brought with it ? There are reports of disgruntled residents feeling poorly considered during the building works and track preparation that has impacted their daily lives. I can imagine it being a right pain if you live and work in the middle of it all! I was just wondering if it's a few making a big noise or if it's more than that?

Although it's Vegas, does that mean it's just another weekend event!

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

There are plenty of locals who are directly impacted by this event -- especially hospitality workers who don't think that there will be a sufficiently good weekend to offset the pain of not being to easily get to work.

I think the FI organization and Liberty Media badly mis-judged the level of interest in this event. I looked around at the grandstands and there are seats available at all of them. Prices have dropped significantly. If the pricing had been reasonable from the outset, I think all grandstand seats would have been purchased. I, personally, would have attended -- I like F1 -- but not enough to spend thousands of US dollars for an uncomfortable seat with limited visibility. I also think it very tacky that the FI organizers have blocked all visual access from ground level of the Strip properties. They also had the questionable judgment to insist that the hotels pay them thousands of dollars for visual access of the race from hotel rooms. Most of the resorts told them--appropriately--to "pound sand."

The concern about traffic has led most of the ride-share drivers (Uber and Lyft) to "stand down" this weekend and so finding an Uber for tourists is likely to be a nightmare.

I think the attitude of the local F1 organization will set back fan interest in this sport ten-fold here.

On the plus side, it is amazing what they have built for this race. And having driven on the race course 5-6 times in the last few days --the smooth paving is pretty cool.

Next year, I am going to look for for deals and will probably attend -- but the hubris of the F1 organizers might well keep me away.

One of the nice effects is that locals are "terrified" of the possible traffic hassle and so we expect traffic around the Strip to be much reduced this weekend. Making it easier for us to attend a special "Froogs Camp" event on the Strip on Friday.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

As an afterthought. Could it be possible it's a limited opening and the actual race track will be off limits? ( I'm thinking if the track is one side of the Strip they open the other)

Dave

Yeah, I thought of this too -- except that the race course crosses over the north-bound Strip in two places -- Sands Blvd and Harmon and so north-bound traffic would drive right through the race course.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

The rains arrived earlier than expected (last night) and so it could be dry for practice tonight and tomorrow. Qualifying looks to be a tad soggy, but the main race should be dry.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Our litmus test for evaluating weekend events is to drive past the corporate jet parking lot on the Las Vegas Strip. It was nearly empty last night. There were several jets, parked in the first row, earlier in the week.

So we will keep an eye on this. The lack of high-rollers flying in is worrisome-at best.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Megan and I just drove the Strip again. Almost no one on the road!

We also drove to the private jet staging area at the Henderson Airport -- clearly, that is the place for the intended F1 traffic. They have reserved parking spaces for about 50 jets. There are 5 or 6 in there now.

Lots of limos!

And we spoke with a local friend who is going to the watch the practice tonight at the Sphere Grandstand -- he is really looking forward to it.

Mark