The 2023 Las Vegas GP was one of the most hyped races in recent history. Racing-wise, the action kept fans engrossed, but in the build-up, there were several complaints. Residents of Las Vegas, in particular, spoke about how the track’s layout and usage affected their daily lives. They probably breathed a sigh of relief after the culmination of the race, only for the street track to be lit up once again.
As part of a promotional feature, Mercedes used the Las Vegas GP track. However, this wasn’t related to Formula 1, or even Lewis Hamilton and George Russell for that matter. Instead, they took to the famous Las Vegas strip to show off their all-new electric G-wagon.
Mercedes’ all-new electric G-Wagon has a very unique feature called the 360 turn. The car can stand stationary, and turn 360 degrees repeatedly, which makes this feature exclusive to their car. This is revolutionary because it’s different from the wheelies, where the driver has to navigate the car in a certain way by turning the steering and using the brakes to turn 360 degrees.
While this feature did intrigue car enthusiasts, it does bring back the concern that locals had over the closing of the roads. Since it is a street circuit, the residents faced a lot of hassle – business in particular. Now it seems that temporarily, two months after the inaugural F1 outing, residents may have faced the same problems once again.
The good and the bad of the 2023 Las Vegas GP
Las Vegas GP was very expensive – not just for the fans, but for the organizers too. They spent north of $500 million to get things up and running and expected a return of more than a billion dollars. However, ticket prices were so high that a lot of fans didn’t want to pay the big bucks to attend a race in the streets of Vegas.
Since roads around the Strip and nearby areas were closed in the build-up to the Grand Prix weekend, locals faced a hassle when it came to commuting for work. Businesses situated in the area were also not happy.
In addition, the fact that it was a street circuit made fans wary that it was going to be just another boring race. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. In fact, the 2023 Las Vegas GP turned out to be one of the most entertaining outings of the season.
Max Verstappen won the race in the Sin City, of course. However, that wasn’t before fans were treated to a plethora of nice overtakes and hard racing.
