Formula 1 will return to Las Vegas four decades after its last edition in 2023 thanks to the agreement reached with Liberty Media . The city of Nevada will host a test of the Great Circus calendar and will become the third on US soil.
However, there will be a big change for all fans of the category, as the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be held on Saturday night, that is, at dawn in Europe. This hasn’t been seen since the 1985 South African GP , the last time F1 held a race on a Saturday.
In a press conference with select media including Motorsport.com, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) President and CEO Steve Hill said, “I think it’s the perfect time and the perfect time slot for this particular event. F1 cannot be static, it cannot be that everything is at three in the afternoon, it would be a mistake.
“That is the reason why we are flexible, we are showing that it is the right time to have the best show in the world in this context,” he said. “I don’t see any problem with that and, if you think about European time, Saturday night at 10:00 p.m. (local time and 7:00 a.m. Spanish peninsular time on Sunday) is perfect, because the audience will also be connected at that time.
“By the way, we could have done it even earlier or later, the whole world would have been watching Vegas that night, for sure,” Hill said.
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei was also in attendance, saying, “I think we’re going to find true happiness from all those teenagers who now have to get up on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and who complain that racing is too early in Europe. Now they can stay up late and enjoy Saturday night.”
The Las Vegas Grand Prix will arrive on the calendar in 2023 and, although they have given an exact duration of the contract, Steve Hill hopes that it will last even longer: “So far, it has been set at three years, but the plan is for it to be longer. “.
When asked if it could be a test that remains among the Formula 1 regulars, he exclaimed forcefully: “We hope!”.
Maffei , for his part, did not want to speculate on when the track will premiere: “This event is confirmed, we still have to tie up some loose contractual ends with certain people and finally when we have it, we will announce the real date.”
The United States has experienced an exponential boom in F1 in recent years, and that is something they know in the category, so they will try to do everything possible to get a team or a driver to the Grand Circus in the not too distant future. .
“It’s important, but it has to be real because, of course, the people make the difference. It’s the leads that everyone knows, their faces, it’s something that’s always a reference,” Hill said.
“It has to be fast, otherwise it will be a boomerang, that’s why we are working with the US federation to invest in it,” he continued. “It is, without a doubt, a journey that will not be easy, it will take a while, but it is in our sights, that is why we are together.”
“It will have a very big effect, for that reason we are working, respecting our roles, but from the commercial point of view or from the organizer, who wants the business in the United States to increase, a woman or a man pilot would be very important,” he added. the president and CEO of the LVCVA.
The issue of having a team has been resolved, but at Liberty Media they want a driver from this nation, as Maffei acknowledges: “We have an American team, Haas F1 Team, and I think that, having a test like this in Las Vegas, together with all the things that we are doing in the country, it will only make it more likely that we will have an American pilot.
Regarding the financial commitment, Las Vegas has revealed that they will spend a lot of money to make the return of Formula 1 possible: “We think it is a great investment, and it is something that we want to return to the city again and again.”
“We have committed to investing some 6.5 million dollars (about 6 million euros) a year in the race to provide public safety, fire protection and a series of services that every city should have for such an event,” Hill sentenced.
Gallery: this will be the new circuit of the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP
Photo by: Liberty Media
Photo by: Liberty Media
Photo by: Liberty Media
Photo by: Liberty Media
