The Las Vegas GP was off to as bad a start as one could imagine, owing to the weirdest of reasons. Mere minutes into the first practice session, Carlos Sainz’s car inexplicably came to a complete halt, while Esteban Ocon’s car had its parts flying all over. Later on, the authorities revealed a loose manhole cover was the culprit behind the chaos that led to the authorities calling off the session nine minutes after it began.
The CEO of the Las Vegas GP, Renee Wilm, and the CEO of F1, Stefano Domenicalli, issued a joint statement addressing the incident and the subsequent actions taken by the authorities to ensure the safety of all personnel involved. While many would assume the F1 would take an apologetic stance, the reality couldn’t be far from different. A report from ESPN quoted the statement in full, where the officials did not even offer satisfactory compensation to the ticket holders who spent as much as $50,000 for a three-day pass. Instead, they offered a $200 coupon so fans could purchase F1 merchandise.
The authorities drew parallels between the Las Vegas GP and other events such as concerts, other sporting events, and even other F1 races that had to be canceled due to bad weather or technical issues. The statement added, “It happens, and we hope people will understand.”
For the last few months, the Las Vegas GP was all anyone from the F1 world could talk about, claiming that it would be the “greatest show on earth.” However, when the time came, it could not have disappointed fans more. After they canceled FP1, the authorities closed off all the fan areas for FP2, which went on till 4 am, with cars roaring down The Strip in front of empty grandstands all around the track.
The Las Vegas GP has been a disappointment so far
A poor opening ceremony, a nine-minute FP1, fans waiting in the cold for action to resume, an unapologetic statement, and an unsatisfactory compensation – this has been the story of the much-anticipated race in Sin City. As such, F1 Journalists and Experts took to X to express their dissatisfaction with the course of events so far.
Senior Journalists Luke Smith and Nate Saunders also had their say on the matter.
Meanwhile, a couple others pointed out more flaws in F1’s approach.
Having invested hundreds of millions of dollars, the sport’s authorities stand to lose more than they can gain from the race. Away from the finances, the authorities are taking a major hit on their credibility, too, and will have to do major damage control to so they can keep the fans hooked to the sport.
