However, not too many F-1 fanatics on the East Coast are thrilled about the 1am start time (10pm Pacific) or the 3am qualifying/sprint time (Midnight Pacific) on the day before prior.
Formula One drivers will get a week off to relax and de-stress before heading to Las Vegas for the inaugural Formula One race being held on the Las Vegas Strip. As the Netflix series Formula One: Drive to Survive has become a massive hit with the American racing community at large, the Formula One community has seen a transformation in viewing figures with the showing of the program. Since the debut of the program, American viewership of F-1 has jumped over 490% thanks to fierce political and team battles that make it all worthwhile to watch. Max Verstappen has already won the World Championship so he’s just trying to pad his stats and other drivers are just racing for pride at this point. All the drivers are excited about the new race on the F-1 schedule.
However, fans have been very displeased at the racing this year. Now the series heads to Vegas for some Pre-Thanksgiving American speed and fun but American fans (save for the pacific coasters) are displeased that it is a late start for practices, qualifying, and race day.
The reason behind this is to capture late-night audiences, the lights of the hotels and the strip, and those waking up in the large European market (6am-9am) but some fans are quite peeved. “People on the U.S. Mountain, Central, and East Coast are prepping or going to sleep, I don’t think that is a good time to start a race,” said one fan speaking to a news station. Another fan stated that people in hotels who are trying to sleep will probably be annoyed by the cars flying noisily around the makeshift street track, “yeah, I expect complaints the next day.”
The East Coast of the United States is one of the largest markets for sports denoting to having many top television markets and a populace of over 125 million. One rabid formula one fan on the East Coast said she didn’t mind the late start but 1am seemed like a terrible idea, “most people have tucked themselves away for the night and more than likely, they’ll probably either just DVR it and watch it later or just try to keep their eyes open and watch.”
The Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia area of the East Coast has been one of the general hot spots for high Formula One viewership as they compose of at least 21% of the East Coast Viewership.
The track will compose of 14 turns, 3.8 miles with a high-speed area that goes right down the strip with cars hitting over 212 miles per hour. This will also be the first grand prix ever that will use max speed governors so that engine do not blow up or become stressed over the length of the straightaway. The long straight will be the feature of the track with the car passing some of the most famous hotels like Paris, MGM Grand, Bellagio, and so on. Turn 6 will feature a turn around the brand new Las Vegas Sphere that has been all the talk of the world right now along with some memes generated about it due to its computerized nature. F-1 set an absolute start time of 10:00pm for the 50-lap feature race (190 total miles). F-2 will not compete here this year.
Tire Test and Regular Test runs with lower-tiered cars gave the track an A+ for easy driving. Many drivers said that the placement of the track was actually quite perfect and that the Nevada State Government did fantastic with the pavement of the track.
However, the Las Vegas Grand Prix has not been without its detractors as protesters destroyed a makeshift bridge that said obstructs their view and also people have complained about the possibility of the noise being too loud for a such a late night to race.
The last time Las Vegas had a Formula One race was back in 1981-1984 which was held in the parking lot of Caesar’s Palace. Drivers liked the track, but it was held during the heat of the summer in which many drivers dealt with dehydration during the race.
This event will be staged for the next 10 Formula One seasons and could generate as much as $10 billion for the local economy. Next year, officials would like to attempt the race over the American Thanksgiving weekend to encourage more domestic race attendance. But Las Vegas has become the toughest ticket in Formula One to obtain as fans are paying upwards to $4,450-$9,500 a seat per zone on the track with some of the best views going for as much as $70,000 to $90,000 per ticket. You can definitely expect the rich and supremely wealthy to be in attendance for this race as well.
Take a look at some of these food choices:
Expect prices for these food items to go for $25-$45 a pop. Actually, the Fried PB&J sounds pretty yummy.
But no matter what, I hope that Formula One puts on a heck of a show in Las Vegas this year and for the years to come.
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