There will be bumps in Formula One’s $500 million Las Vegas Grand Prix later this week. AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer writes that the warning signs have been there.
Very true. However you may have noticed it’s currently late fall in the hemisphere of the planet where this race is being held. This means a local sunset at 16:30. So having the race at for example 18:00 would allow one to have the race in the dark with all the pretty lights and have it finish at a reasonable hour.
Also doing the race down the strip would count as pointless in my book. I really don’t know what audience they are catering for.
Actual race fans don’t like it, cause the circuit is (out of necessity) kinda shit and with the low temps and dirty track I would expect overtaking to be minimal.
The locals and tourists don’t like it, cause they come for cheap instant gratification. Not something that takes up a huge amount of space, makes a lot of noise, is super expensive and most folks won’t be familiar enough with it to enjoy it.
So it’s down to the people who like the flashyness of it all and watching the celebs. But are those really tuning into F1? I know FOM and Hamilton have done a lot to make racing something for celebs to come visit and enjoy. Not just the racing fans who happen to also be celebs, but celebs who know nothing about racing and are there for the show of it. I’m just not sure it’s working for them.
They’ve had some misfires on this front especially in the US (remember the Badillac). This Vegas race seems to be an extension of that. It’s meant to draw in the younger TikTok crowd maybe? FOM has been tragically bad at social media for years. Not sure what they are going for.
They could have just done an F1 experience kinda thing. Shut down a big part of a parking lot and maybe a part of a street or two for a couple of days. Have some older F1 cars do a demo and be done with it. They do those all the time in cities and having been to couple, it’s a fun time. Having a full on race makes no sense imho, but I don’t know shit so who knows?
I’ll just set my expectations low and be happily surprised if it isn’t total shit. Either way, Monday I probably won’t think twice about it.
Very true. However you may have noticed it’s currently late fall in the hemisphere of the planet where this race is being held. This means a local sunset at 16:30. So having the race at for example 18:00 would allow one to have the race in the dark with all the pretty lights and have it finish at a reasonable hour.
Also doing the race down the strip would count as pointless in my book. I really don’t know what audience they are catering for. Actual race fans don’t like it, cause the circuit is (out of necessity) kinda shit and with the low temps and dirty track I would expect overtaking to be minimal. The locals and tourists don’t like it, cause they come for cheap instant gratification. Not something that takes up a huge amount of space, makes a lot of noise, is super expensive and most folks won’t be familiar enough with it to enjoy it. So it’s down to the people who like the flashyness of it all and watching the celebs. But are those really tuning into F1? I know FOM and Hamilton have done a lot to make racing something for celebs to come visit and enjoy. Not just the racing fans who happen to also be celebs, but celebs who know nothing about racing and are there for the show of it. I’m just not sure it’s working for them.
They’ve had some misfires on this front especially in the US (remember the Badillac). This Vegas race seems to be an extension of that. It’s meant to draw in the younger TikTok crowd maybe? FOM has been tragically bad at social media for years. Not sure what they are going for.
They could have just done an F1 experience kinda thing. Shut down a big part of a parking lot and maybe a part of a street or two for a couple of days. Have some older F1 cars do a demo and be done with it. They do those all the time in cities and having been to couple, it’s a fun time. Having a full on race makes no sense imho, but I don’t know shit so who knows?
I’ll just set my expectations low and be happily surprised if it isn’t total shit. Either way, Monday I probably won’t think twice about it.