Will the new Las Vegas GP bring renewed interest to F1 in the US?

Updated: Apr 14, 2022 6:38 pm

There are an increasing number of reasons to go to Las Vegas. There’s the gambling of course, all the shows and an NFL team. November 2023 can see a fab four created as the Las Vegas Grand Prix takes place. That will make it three races in the US next season. Are Americans finally falling in love with the sport?

The Las Vegas Grand Prix promises to be a spectacular one. Not since 1982 has Las Vegas hosted a F1 Grand Prix race. That was the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, and a track was laid out in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace Hotel.

That year saw the USA hold three races and no country had done that since 1950. American interest in F1 wasn’t great though. Poor attendances and the cost of setting up the circuit caused big losses for the hotel and that was the end of racing there.

This won’t be like the Caesars Palace Grand Prix. 2023 will see F1 cars racing on the Las Vegas Strip. Just like in Monaco, there will be iconic hotels and casinos that will be passed. If the race isn’t that exciting at least we’ll have something else to look at.

The US Grand Prix is now a regular fixture on the F1 calendar. 2022 sees the Miami Grand Prix take place and now comes news of the Las Vegas race next year. Is there the support for all these races though?

The announcement of the race was full of quotes about how great the race will be. All good publicity talks but what we didn’t hear was that F1 may be a global sport, but it needs more exposure in the US and hopefully the addition of Miami in 2022 and Las Vegas next year will do just that.

Street circuits always seem to add something extra to a Grand Prix. The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be raced over 50 laps. There’ll be three straights and 14 turns over its 3.8 miles circuit and the top speed is likely to be 212mph.

Holding a race in Las Vegas sounds just about right for F1. They are taking a huge gamble on the sport becoming increasingly popular in America. NASCAR and stock car racing has been grabbing the attention of American motorsport fans.

The Netflix series ‘Formula One: Drive to Survive’ has become popular in the US. Races are being shown on ESPN and that is generating a new fan base.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Miami Grand Prix gets on this year. The worry will be that if that and the US Grand Prix in Austin aren’t big hits, then three races in 2023 becomes even more of a risky adventure.

The hope is that the gamble pays off and the sport does rise in popularity in the States. Those three races plus the Canadian Grand Prix will see F1 becoming even stronger.

The last time there was a Grand Prix held in Las Vegas, it was the final race for American driver and former world champion Mario Andretti. What would help the sport in the USA is if another American driver began competing.

That could be Colton Herta who has had success in IndyCar. He’s having a test drive with McLaren this year and there’s talk of IndyCar owner Michael Andretti (son of Mario) getting involved with F1. There’s already one American team in F1 but Haas struggle to get into contention in races. Better performances by them would give US fans something to shout about.