Liberty Media finally managed to break into the US market with Formula 1 after years of failure. This also led to the introduction of the Las Vegas GP, one of the most anticipated races on the 2023 Calendar. The race in Vegas is being hyped as one of the biggest events of the year and F1 has put in $240,000,000 to make the project a grand success. However, recent images from the under-construction circuit have generated doubts over its supposed grandeur.
Scheduled for 17-19 November later this year, the Las Vegas GP also happens to be one of the costliest races to attend in F1 history. The fact that there have been reports of tickets worth $1 million being sold for the race makes it clear how hyped the event is.
Well let’s hope the race goes better than the finish line painting pic.twitter.com/N9kxQAIcfT
— Dan – EngineMode11 (@EngineMode11) November 6, 2022
The cheapest tickets for the event are priced at $500 and that’s just for standing room. However, even those tickets sold out the instant that they were released in the market, proving how much demand there is for the grand event. After so many tickets being sold, and so much money being put into the race, it would be a massive disaster if the event fails due to construction delay.
Liberty Media’s ambitious plans for the Las Vegas GP
Liberty Media invested $240,000,000 to buy around 39 acres of land in 2022 to set up a permanent paddock for the blockbuster race in Las Vegas. The paddock is set to be 4 stories tall and 300,000-square-foot in size.
FormulaRapida.net already reported in March that the construction work was behind schedule. The organizers have not managed to catch up since then but are compelled to hurry up, with only four months until the lights go out in the sin city.
Formula 1 has four months to finish its paddock building (and track) for the Las Vegas GP.
F1 paid $240 million for the 39 acres of land last year and is building a permanent 4-story, 300,000-square-foot paddock.
It’s going to be close!
(The last photo is a race day rendering) pic.twitter.com/GDqsIFRNRX
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) July 25, 2023
Las Vegas faces a unique set of challenges regarding the preparation for the race. The circuit will use the famous Las Vegas strip, lined by a plethora of casinos and resorts as one of the straights, which makes it even more difficult since the authorities would need to completely lock down one of the most popular areas of the city.
The newest Vegas GP controversy
Construction is not the only issue that F1 is facing right now regarding the Las Vegas GP. According to New York Post, F1 has demanded a fee from the establishments that have a direct view of the race track.
⚠️ | F1 threatens to block venues with a view to Las Vegas GP if they don’t pay
Liberty Media sent letters to restaurants, bars and clubs charging them $1500/head licensing fee or they will use barricades and blinding lights to block the customers peeking at the race
“It seems… pic.twitter.com/aGk0eAiZUi
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) July 25, 2023
F1 has asked every venue along the street circuit to pay a fee of $1,500 per head for licensing rights. For a 1000-seater restaurant along the circuit, the cost of the license will be $1,500,000. F1 has allegedly claimed that they would block the views if a venue disagrees to pay the licensing fees.
All in all, there are widely varying opinions regarding the race that is set to become the biggest event of the 2023 calendar. Whether everything will go through smoothly, remains to be seen.
