The F1 finals competed on the Las Vegas track in 1981 and 1982. Now, after more than 40 years of waiting, the formula circus returns to the Nevada desert, when the 21st race before the last of the F1 season is gassed on the famous streets of Vegas.
The Formula Ones are in Vegas for much the same reason as in the 1980s. There had to be showmanship, glitz and glamour. However, the competitions of the 1980s disappointed the expectations and badly.
At that time, the track was built in the parking area of the Caesars Palace hotel. The track was a criticized compromise solution because it wanted to be built close to Caesars Palace and its casino, which generously supported the event. The 3.54 kilometer long track with 14 corners was built in a tight space and there were no height differences.
An American driver who drove an Alfa Romeo in 1981 Mario Andretti has told how he was hugely excited about the F1 race in Las Vegas, but in the end was hugely disappointed after seeing the track.
The track, which did not have long straights but constantly tight turns, was physically very violent, especially with the passing games of that time. Especially in 1982, when the temperature was +37 degrees. of the Brabham team Nelson Piquet threw up on his helmet during the race, and he couldn’t get out of his car under his own power.
– For the first and only time in my life as a racing driver, I started to feel dizzy. I was so dehydrated and the track was so bumpy, between 1978 and 1982 I drove in F1 Derek Daly has told.
For Finns, the 1982 Caesars Palace competition turned out to be historic and memorable. Keke Rosberg finished fifth, which was enough to secure him the world championship, as the first Nordic.
The Sportsman of the Year title also went to a racing driver for the first time in Finland. Rosberg acknowledged that, apparently, auto racing also started to count as a sport in Finland.
Rosberg’s championship was a great starting point for the appreciation and understanding of the F1 series in Finland, says Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh.
Vegas’ F1 tuning in the 1980s was criticized for other reasons as well. Caesars Palace marketed the event exclusively and footed the bills, so support from other companies and the city quickly faded.
Andretti and Daly said they stayed at Caesars Palace, dressed in their rooms and marched to breakfast in their overalls – no one was interested.
– No one understood formula one. Nobody knew the F1 drivers, Daly wondered.
The F1 drug in Vegas was fading fast. It went as it usually does for alliances made in Vegas. They fall apart.
F1 said goodbye to Vegas, even though the competition had years left on its contract. It didn’t seem to upset or surprise anyone.
Massive engineering samples
In the early 1980s, the GP held in Vegas entered the race calendar as the third round of the season held in the United States. The same is the case now, because the calendar also includes the Miami and Texas races. However, a lot has changed since those times.
Owned by the US media giant Liberty Media, the market value and viewership of the formulas in North America have famously risen dramatically.
In 1981, the competition attracted 20,000–25,000 spectators. Now 100,000 viewers per day are expected. Now the Vegas competition has received strong support from the state and local government.
All major casinos in the region have committed to the competition and are enthusiastic about its marketing. Businesses in the area believe that the F1 weekend will bring economic benefits of 1.1 billion euros.
The Formula 1 series, which calls Vegas the entertainment capital, is listed on their website of the long list of the most massive and special tunings that are available on the weekend.
The teams have also brought special colors for their cars and driving suits to Vegas.
Now in Vegas they drive on a temporary street track. Of the 6.1 kilometer track, 1.9 kilometers is the back straight on The Strip. The circuit is the longest in F1 after Belgium. At the same time, it is one of the fastest, with a top speed of 342 km/h and an average speed of 237 km/h.
Jukka Mildh reminds that the race is a leap into the unknown, because the track has only been run on simulators. Do the drivers dare to take risks? Although the drivers have of course memorized the track exactly by heart, the braking points and the surface of the track can surprise you.
In addition, the temperature in Vegas has spoken in advance. The air temperature late in the evening is estimated to be 7–13 degrees. Former sporting director of the F1 series Ross Brown has admitted that temperatures were not considered when the Vegas race was put on the calendar.
The coldest race in F1 history is the October 1978 race in Montreal, when the air temperature was five degrees.
Mildh somewhat surprises the conversation, because the temperature could not have come as a surprise to the stables. In any case, an F1 race hasn’t been run in such cool weather for a long time, so the element is new and poses challenges, especially for the performance of the tires. A drop in brake temperature can also cause problems.
The competition arrangements have also been infuriating
The long-lasting construction works and the continuous special arrangements for traffic in the core of Vegas have irritated local businesses and residents. The ticket prices have also spoken. The F1 series has admitted that the race is the most expensive of the season.
The average price of a ticket to the competition was initially 2,000 dollars, or 1,843 euros. Recently, however, prices have fallen, for example because Max Verstappen and Red Bull have secured their championship some time ago. On the resale market, tickets to the main stand have recently been “only” available for about a thousand euros. The prices of training tickets have even been halved, when you can get into the stands for 166 euros.
Event CEO Renee Wilm has assured that the seats will be sold out by the h-moment. However, according to news agencies, Liberty Media has for the first time dramatically exceeded the point of how much consumers are willing to pay for F1 entertainment.
Of course, you can pay more if you want. $7,000 gets you to watch the race David Beckham’s and Shaquille O’Neal with.
According to Sky Sports the event’s most expensive VIP package costs $5 million. For that price, you can watch the race from the roof terrace, but you also get access to a luxurious suite, a Japanese celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisan conjured dinners, round-the-clock butler and chauffeur service and much more.
F1 has tried to do everything possible to not follow race events other than by paying. Liberty Media demands payment from all restaurants and bars with a view of the F1 track in the “City of Sins”. According to media reports, Liberty Media initially demanded a payment of 1,500 euros per customer seat from the restaurants. In the largest restaurants, there would have been several millions to pay.
F1 threatened that it will cover the visibility of the track with barriers, poles and stands if the payments are not made.
Later, the F1 organizers retracted their demands. Now restaurants and casinos can watch the F1 race, as long as the restaurant pays a $50,000 license fee. Similar fees are in use at other street circuits, such as in Monaco.
Some restaurant owners thought $50,000 was reasonable because it is in line with the fees for next year’s Super Bowl in Vegas. Some thought it was absurd that business operators have to pay for an event held on public streets.
The race organizers have also made visual barriers on pedestrian bridges so that pedestrians cannot see the track. Videos are circulating on social media where passers-by tear off the tapes that have been placed as a visual barrier.
The F1 series’ own gambling game
In addition to the fact that the pricing of the Vegas GP is aimed especially at rich international tourists, the same has also been done with the clock times. Time trials are held at midnight local time. The competition starts at 22:00 local time.
The competition starts at 1 o’clock at night on the East Coast of the USA. In Europe, you can follow the events with your morning coffee, and in Asia in the afternoon.
– I’m sure that Las Vegas will look at this from two angles. First, will we get unique visitors who wouldn’t otherwise be in Vegas in November? It has a real financial impact. Secondly, we want to increase awareness of the destination in Europe and Asia. Now they see Vegas on TV and might think it would be a cool place to visit, said the University of Delaware professor Matthew Robinson.
F1 and Liberty Media are playing their own gambling game at the Vegas race. In general, F1 has relied on promoters who are ready to shell out huge sums in exchange for access to the F1 calendar. For example, Saudi Arabia pays 65 million dollars a year for the rights to its F1 race.
However, Liberty Media believes in the appeal of Vegas so much that it has been ready to abandon the business model it has learned. It has paid up to 500 million dollars out of its own pocket for the construction of the competition area, other infrastructure and marketing. The most expensive part was the acquisition of 40 hectares of land in the middle of the city for about 250 million dollars.
Building the track somewhere other than the main street would have caused much less headache for both the F1 series and the locals. However, F1 believes that The Strip is the environment where growth can still be mined. Vegas’ contract with the F1 series is ten years.
– Many Americans have started to love formula one. But many still don’t know about it. I think the night race on The Strip on Saturday will change that, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei your line.
Time in Finnish time.
1st practice Friday 17.11. at 6:30 am
2nd practice on Friday 17.11. at 10 o’clock
3. exercises Sat 18.11. at 6:30 am
Time trials Sat 18.11. at 10 o’clock
Competition Sun 19.11. at 8 o’clock
Sources: The Athletic, The Athletic, Formula 1, AP, CNN, New York Post, Sky Sports, The Race, Motorsport.com