LAS VEGAS | A piece of track on one of the world’s most famous boulevards, exorbitant prices, astronomical economic benefits and installations worth over $500 million. It’s an understatement to say that Las Vegas is literally pumped full of steroids this auto racing week.
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Synonymous with luxury and glamour, Formula 1’s grand circus encourages its new goal to push the boundaries of excess, extravagance and exuberance.
Photo AFP
Examples?
Luxurious hotel rooms on the famous “Strip” for more than $ 5,000 per night instead of $ 300, ticket packages for $ 20,000 and more, private parties and expensive banquets from world-famous chefs worth up to $ 11,000, new temporary infrastructure with a view of the race track in front. In the casinos, Vegas is literally in full swing.
*Prices are shown in US dollars
Photo AFP
The Journal traveled to Nevada last week to observe final preparations for the 23rd and penultimate round of the F1 calendar. It’s hard to imagine this place, already so electric when it comes to vitamins. However, this is actually the case.
And as the man who has already put his paw on the drivers’ championship, Max Verstappen, said with brutal honesty in Brazil: “We are more for the show than for the race itself in Vegas.”
Archive photo, AFP
The big show of the year
Those words resonated with Andrew Lanzino, vice president of sports partnerships and event strategies at MGM International, one of the Grand Prix’s key partners as the hotel chain has 14 locations in Las Vegas.
“Exactly, in Las Vegas it’s always just for show,” he emphasized and laughed heartily in an interview with Le Journal at the Bellagio. Every race in F1 has its own identity. It’s clear here that we want to make a show out of it, because that’s exactly what we are. Vegas is a show. This race will prove our identity. »
For the first time, Formula 1 is organizing its own race at its facilities. Liberty Media, owner of the big circus, invested more than $500 million to buy property near the Strip to build paddocks and permanent grandstands.
The suites and boxes of the Paddock Club at the Las Vegas Grand Prix offer a sublime view of the high-rise hotels on the Strip. PHOTO FRANÇOIS-DAVID ROULEAU Photo François-David Rouleau
Formula 1 and its numerous partners have no choice but to offer a colorful spectacle at the end of the season, characterized by the incredible dominance of Verstappen, the winner of 17 races, and the Red Bull team.
On the 6.2 km long street circuit, the single-seaters parade in the evening in front of the Bellagio fountains, the miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Venetian canals and Caesars Palace at a top speed of over 320 km/h in addition to rotating around the new Attraction, the Sphere. The images promise to stimulate the imagination.
Las Vegas was founded in 1905 and has hosted numerous major sporting events. However, this race week is already considered the most important in its history. The approximately 100,000 spectators expected around the racetrack each day are expected to generate an estimated economic benefit of $1.3 billion.
In the blind spot
But the organization of this event did not go smoothly. It caused a stir in the community as the route crosses the main arteries of the city of 650,000 and receives nearly 40 million visitors each year. It blocks the heart of the Strip visited by millions of tourists, blocks main access to facilities and has disrupted the daily routine of tens of thousands of workers going to work for months. Transport issues represent a gigantic challenge.
In addition, one side of Las Vegas Boulevard has been closed to traffic for nearly two kilometers since Friday to complete track installation. This artery is used by more than 140,000 vehicles every day. All taxi drivers the representative interviewed during his trips reported their daily hardships. And for months, independent dealers in the hot zone of the Grand Prix have reported that their sales have fallen because of the obstacles.
The Las Vegas street circuit can be clearly seen on certain streets in the Nevada metropolis. Near the Sphere, Sands Avenue is a veritable parking lot for traffic. In the background we can see the palazzo. PHOTO FRANÇOIS-DAVID ROULEAU Photo François-David Rouleau
While the price range of hotels located on the circuit is completely inflated and begins to rise again on the eve of the first wheel revolutions after weeks of reduction, the price range for hotels outside the arena is more reasonable. It is still possible to book a night for between $100 and $250.
As for the prices of the many tickets still available, you might as well remortgage the house for most of them, as they vary from $220 to $9,000 depending on the package you choose. But hey, this price includes food from renowned international chef Wolfgang Puck…