Why a Las Vegas Grand Prix is only good news for Formula 1

A little over a decade ago, Formula 1 seemed to be in a difficult spot in the United States.

The scars of the 2005 debacle at Indianapolis had never properly healed, and even as F1 returned in Austin, it seemed like the series would never really make a splash in a market it had tried time and time again to break into. There’d be interest, but it would always be niche at best.

But today’s announcement that F1 will be returning to Las Vegas - and with a proper street race on the Strip this time, not in a casino car park - shows just how far things have come in a short space of time, serving as a landmark moment and a sign that business is booming for F1 right now.

Ever since Liberty Media acquired F1 back in 2017, it was clear in its desire to add “destination cities” to the calendar. The thinking was that the best way to generate interest and drive lasting impact with people was to take F1 to major cities and get the whole town around the event. Chasing a Super Bowl every other Sunday was perhaps a bit optimistic, yet the principle still felt like a big shift away from where F1 previously was at.

It is why Miami’s announcement was such a big moment for F1, and the interest that has already followed only justifies that. It is going to be a sell-out event and really grab the city’s attention for an entire weekend, much as Austin now does. If F1 is in town, you simply have to go. 

But the fact even two races wasn’t seen as being enough to satisfy American interest shows just what a breakthrough F1 has made there. The series reported a crowd of 400,000 for the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October, a figure that was undoubtedly aided by the success of Drive to Survive on Netflix, but cannot be attributed solely to the show.

TV figures are also in remarkably good health Stateside. ESPN continually reported rising numbers through 2021, and that has continued to surge this year. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the largest F1 audience on cable in the United States since 1995, and up 54% on last year’s race in Jeddah - which was the penultimate round of the season and could have seen the title won. The figures are only going one way.

The Circuit of the Americas put F1 on the map in the US

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

For a sports-mad nation like the United States, and particular one of such scale, three races is absolutely the right amount. It crosses all three timezones (Miami on ET, Austin on CT, Las Vegas on PT) and they won’t crowd each other on the calendar. The November slot for Vegas means there’ll be some proximity to Austin, assuming that retains a similar slot, but they will be two very different races and products for fans to enjoy. All three events will play to slightly different demographics and complement each other, not compete.

It is not only a reflection of where F1 stands within the United States that a race will happen in Las Vegas. It also shows how the series has now become less niche and more mainstream globally, to the extent that it can secure a slot in one of the major sporting capitals of the world. The moves taken by Liberty, particularly through its digital output, has helped pull F1 into the 21st century and make it an exceptionally marketable product, evidenced with the influx of big tech sponsors in recent times. The money is flowing in, meaning all cities will want to get a slice of the pie.

That is what sparked F1 boss Stefano Domenicali’s recent claim there was enough interest for 30 races, fanning fears that is where the calendar could be heading. The Concorde Agreement means the schedule is capped at 24 rounds, but a shift in strategy has been suggested. In addition to the 22 races currently planned for this year, Las Vegas will join along with Qatar, and China is also under contract to return - taking us to 25 already.

The initial announcement made no mention of how long the deal runs for, but F1 will want to ensure this is not a simple flash-in-the-pan event. Domenicali said at the announcement that the “plan is to stay for longer”

Historic venues are likely themselves coming under increasing pressure to prove they can keep with the times and do enough to convince F1 they should remain on the calendar amid so much interest from new markets. Some fans may feel uneasy about the idea of losing classic events for the bright lights of Las Vegas, and it will be a challenge for F1 to strike the right balance. But this race feels like one that simply could not be turned down; it’s dream territory for any sporting franchise.

Opting for a Saturday race is also a really clever move by F1. To give the full Vegas experience, it always needed to be a night race - but going for a Saturday speaks to the flexibility there now is to scheduling events. It will be a great way to take advantage of the US market via a primetime slot, and while it may be unfriendly to the European timezones, it is no different to many of the major boxing or UFC bouts that take place in the wee hours of a Sunday morning.

It will make the race a unique experience whether you’re watching at the track or from home, and certainly more of a spectacle. No other race can come close to acting as that kind of product right now.

The Las Vegas circuit goes through The Strip, with 14 corners for the drivers to dice with

A successful event could lead to interest from other races to follow a similar scheduling - but if F1 wants to keep some elements that make Las Vegas stand out, it might want to make it the only Saturday night prime-time event. After all, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?

The initial deal will run for three years, but F1 will want to ensure this is not a simple flash-in-the-pan event. Domenicali said at the announcement that the “plan is to stay for longer”, and to gain such a regular foothold in Vegas would make it the envy of other events across the world. Again, step back 10 years and consider that ever being something you could discuss about F1 in the US.

It shows how far things have come under Liberty. It has taken F1 from facing an uncertain future in the United States when it took over to literally racing on the Las Vegas Strip as of next year. We may have another 18 months to wait, but this is a landmark moment for F1 and should be taken as excellent news for the series as a whole.

F1 has gone all in on a night race in Las Vegas, which should be the ace up its sleeve

Photo by: Liberty Media