F1 coming to Vegas !

[Southwest Dave]

MOTOR RACING!! What a great race producing lots of close racing and overtaking moves that we don't often see on a majority of tracks. F1 and LV was always going to be under the microscope, but when it came down to the racing it was top marks and that's what it's all about. I wouldn't want to see the distractions of glitz and glamour at any other circuit, but this is Vegas and I think it can become an enjoyable part of the race calendar and something to look forward to. Ignore the background noise and it's a Yes from me!

The downside for me is the ticket pricing which could drive F1 fans /enthusiasts away. A 4 day pass into the British F1 GP including race day starts from £409 with a race day only Grandstand seat for the same sort of price! (It would be cheaper to fly to the UK for a race Mark!)

And a big thumbs up to the UK's Channel 4 excellent highlights coverage, very positive and top notch as always

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

What a great race producing lots of close racing and overtaking moves that we don't often see on a majority of tracks.

Dave, thanks for hte commentary on this thread. Made it much more interesting.

Mark

[UKCraig]

A few days ago my other half called up to Virgin Media to go through the ridiculous annual charade of renegotiating the TV/phone/broadband package. We got £30 a month reduction but they also threw in all the movie and sport channels too which was nice as we now have a dedicated 24 hour 7 day channel devoted to F1 which gave me the opportunity to watch a full race for the first time in probably 15 years.

Now I have a background in motorsport (not F1) so I was really disappointed to see how much of a circus it appears to have become (even worse than it was years ago!) but I will be honest I can see how quite a few would buy in to that and it was a spectacle. THAT is where LV is going to win out of this; it's not a direct ROI on the weekend rather a long term boost to the image which will see many people thinking about visiting over the course of the next few years. I think, from that perspective, it'll be a success for the city.

I know I am a dying breed but I'll stick to my old school racing though, thank you.

[UKCraig]

A 4 day pass into the British F1 GP including race day starts from £409 with a race day only Grandstand seat for the same sort of price! (It would be cheaper to fly to the UK for a race Mark!)

And that itself is insanity. Add camping and people are paying into the thousands. Crazy.

Try a trip to Le Mans. Far better value with a far better product and great access to the teams and drivers. The real fun happens away from the track though. And all for about £2.50 a head!

Anyway I think a little French gathering (!) is somewhat off topic for a US based road trip planning site so I will disappear again. Maybe back in a few months looking for assistance with the next instalment of our US trilogy! :)

[Mark Sedenquist]

This is a very good post with comments from the F1 drivers and the team principals -- and lots of great photos.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

That's a good link Mark.

Not a great race for the Brits, Lando crashing, George Russel taking the 5 second penalty and Lewis Hamilton getting an unfortunate puncture from light contact a long way from the pits. I thought he was looking strong on the hard tyres at that time in the race and could of been pushing for a podium.

I also had the same thought as Craig, long term this was a great advert to lure new visitors to Las Vegas.

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

Megan and I drove a part of the Strip this afternoon -- tough sledding since the workers are already working at dismantling the course and traffic was heavy!

One thing that was super obvious -- a heck of lot of private jets were on-hand yesterday. When we drove past the Executive Air Terminal at Harry Reid International airport --there were more than 20 qued-up to taxi to the runways.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

Megan and I drove a part of the Strip this afternoon

Did you keep it under 200mph ? It'll be interesting to know what it looks like tomorrow, probably like they hadn't been there and it's back to business as usual.

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

I might have reached 35 mph on the Harmon section of the course.

Best guess from the county engineer is that will have most of the roads open and back to "normal" by Christmas. Heavy forecast for closures on Sands Blvd and Harmon--they have to remove the k-rails and etc.

I don't know if they plan to remove the lights superstructure or how that will work.

Mark

[UKCraig]

Christmas? That's crazy! I know it's a bigger track than Monaco but I have been there a week or so after the race before and it's been entirely back to normal already. I guess it'll improve for next years as they streamline certain processes.

Saw this video and thought about Dave's desire to 'see what it looks like tomorrow':

https://youtu.be/yElrDlak0Rs?si=ZKErVv2dV5XiGfcP