Carlos Sainz Jnr says Formula 1’s second Las Vegas Grand Prix was more successful because the series didn’t try too hard to sell itself.
The Ferrari driver said the second edition of the event last weekend was “a step forwards compared to last year.”Formula One Management took the unique step of promoting its own event in the city, buying a plot of land in order to construct the pit and paddock. However its first event last year drew some criticism for how heavily promoted it was and the demands it placed upon the drivers and teams to add to the spectacle.
Sainz said this had been dialled back in F1’s second year and the event was better for it. “I feel like last year F1, if anything, was trying a bit too hard to put on too much of a show,” he said. “It got a bit too much away from Formula 1 and too much into the Vegas style.
“I feel like this year we’ve just been more normal doing our own thing and it’s been a success. It just shows the Formula 1 product works and you don’t need to try too hard.”
However the event’s unusually late schedule remains a focus of criticism for many. The race started at 10pm local time, as it did last year.
“I’d bring the race a couple hours earlier if I could,” said Sainz. “I think it would help everyone in the paddock, everyone that does the job in this sport, I think, would put everyone in a healthier, better mood through the weekend.”
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Adding to the demand upon teams, the race is held back-to-back with the Qatar Grand Prix. The drivers and team staff therefore have to cope with an 11-hour time zone change.
“So a couple of hours earlier race timings and not a back-to-back with Qatar, that’s what I would ask everyone as the next step,” said Sainz. “For the rest, it’s a great circuit to put on a good race, great for overtaking, a challenging track. I wouldn’t change anything, just those two details and I think everything will be better.”
Race winner George Russell agreed the race is “not great timing at all for the people who are here in the moment.”
“But we’re 20 drivers, let’s say 4,000 people who do all the F1 races collectively, and there’s tens of millions of people who watch at home.
“I’d probably say having it back-to-back with Qatar is the biggest challenge. If we have a week off afterwards, I’d say that’s probably the only thing realistically that would help.”
Lewis Hamilton agreed the schedule is “massively challenging for everyone” but praised the event as a success. “The actual race is absolutely fantastic. It’s such a great event.
“They’ve really, really done a mega job this year so I can’t wait to come back.”
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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Vowles clarifies Colapinto’s claim he was concussed in Las Vegas crash
- Norris lost title because McLaren weren’t competitive enough early on – Stella
- Ferrari are now in their longest-ever championship drought
- F1 “was trying too hard” in first year at Las Vegas – Sainz
- 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 16:58
22:00 local start time is solely to maximize European viewers, but I definitely agree regarding the part about being on consecutive weekends with a Middle East location.
If only FOM stopped caring about something as trivial as holding the Las Vegas GP on the weekend before Thanksgiving, specifically, as nothing literally forbids holding it on any other weekend in November or elsewhere in the year, for that matter.
COTA, Mexico City, & Sao Paulo remaining as a triple-header combo, with LV a weekend earlier, i.e., two weeks after the Sao Paulo GP & the same amount before the Qatar GP would be a comparatively more suitable pattern.
RandomMallard
26th November 2024, 17:13
The agreement they have with the local council is only for the weekend before Thanksgiving I believe, so changing the date would require a renegotiation of their permissions agreement with the Clark County Commission.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 17:42
If that’s the case then simply renegotiate that particular aspect.
For example, the Monaco GP has mostly taken place within the last quarter of May for 20+ years & after renegotiation, they’ll switch to June in 2026.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th November 2024, 7:47
@jerejj The large amount of local opposition to the race (largely generated by the disruption holding the event caused, particularly in its first iteration) means that attempting to renegotiate that part runs the risk of losing the entire race. Liberty does not wish to do this.
Anthony H. Tellier
28th November 2024, 5:17
01:00 start time on East Coast is NOT “OK”! We used F1TV for 08:00 the next morning. Have to avoid any media/news/etc., until then.
David
28th November 2024, 20:19
surely it can’t be difficult to avoid media from 1am to 8am? It is only 7 hours, let alone the fact you are probably sleeping….
Simon
26th November 2024, 17:08
“stopped caring about something as trivial”
Hmmm… oh… kay…
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 18:01
Yes, trivial because the weekend before Thanksgiving (the precise date range ofc varies jointly with the Thanksgiving weekend rather than being consistent) itself isn’t special at all nor any more special than any other November phase.
lynn-m
26th November 2024, 17:18
i’d rather they scrap this vanity project entirely.
awfully boring circuit even when there’s something going on in terms of racing it’s still just not that fun to watch because watching the cars drive around such a pathetic excuse for a circuit just isn’t especially fun to watch.
and i mean look how little engagement there was. hardly any comments in any of the discussion posts on here over the weekend suggests that real f1 fans simply don’t care much for this horrid event and horrid car park circuit.
Replace it with a race on a proper circuit that has some character and atmosphere.
I mean if they are happy to have high speeds with little runoff on track slike Vegas, Miami, Jeddah & Baku then whats stopping a return to an un-altered Watkins Glen, Road America or even Laguna Seca? Would be far better watching cars looking alive around truly wonderful circuits than suffering through watching them on generic boring car park track number 100 which is all this awfully horrid vegas vanity project is.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
26th November 2024, 17:27
Indeed.
Edvaldo
26th November 2024, 17:42
The awful time slot probably takes part of the blame too.
People don’t feel as compelled to comment when they’re watching the event hours later, or not even watching it at all.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 17:45
Edvaldo The timing may be awful in the East Coast & to a lesser extent in the GP location, but it certainly isn’t awful in the Far East, for example, or even in Europe, & certainly no worse than the Australian or Japanese GP equivalent timings.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th November 2024, 7:48
@jerejj Precisely. In F1, any timeslot will work somewhere in the world.
Edvaldo
27th November 2024, 14:05
Of course it will. But not everywhere in the world there are the same numbers of spectators. Is F1 as big in, say, Asia, as it is in Europe? I doubt it.
I don’t watch races in this time slot anymore, it’s not worth it.
JeffHeinick (@jeffheinick)
26th November 2024, 17:49
Comments like this prove that no matter how good the racing the racing is, not matter if there’s 82 on track passes or 3, pretentious fans will complain because they don’t like something trivial. Where were these complaints with the absolutely snoozer of a track Singapore is? Not only does nothing usually happen other than a turn 1 pile up, but the track is a slog, a mile too long. But where are the complaints that more than just racing goes on there? This event was the start of turning these weekends into more than the race. Concerts, celebrities, night racing. Yet nothing but praise, but I think we know why that is.
These were two good races. Quit the complaining and sit back and enjoy the event.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 18:03
@jeffheinick Spot-on & I could’ve also referred to Singapore in the same sense as Monaco, especially regarding this year’s edition.
lynn-m
26th November 2024, 23:45
@jeffheinick most of the racing was cars on new tires easily getting by cars on old tires.
there was very little genuine racing for position between cars of equal pace that were actually racing for genuine position.
not to mention how most of the passes were boringly easy thanks to drs and said tire delta differences.
it’s just a boring circuit thats not interesting to watch cars driving around and tracks like that make it harder to enjoy watching.
quality over quantity!
and i feel the same about singapore since you mentioned that track. although i guess the thing that would make me rate singapore higher is that at least that track is more physically demanding which along with it usually running close to the 2 hours actually results in drivers looking like they have been challenged at the end unlike most other circuits.
S
27th November 2024, 6:04
You’ve been saying this same stuff for a long time – but you don’t seem to put as much effort into savaging the cars and the teams as you do the tracks and the Commercial Rights Holder.
If you think it’s boring, it’s primarily because the cars are boring. That the teams constantly manage how they are driven is also highly detrimental.
What does quality over quantity even mean? More of what you want and less of what you don’t want?
Fewer races – anywhere – does not raise the quality of F1 in any sense.
If you want less, you know how to get it.
Jere (@jerejj)
27th November 2024, 7:08
lynn-m DRS didn’t cause anything, even if tyre deltas & deg struggles did.
Ultimately, all passes were completed by full car length either only under braking or shortly before, & the first choice for the Strip activation zone starting point was unnecessarily close to T14, hence it got brought forward by 50 meters during last year’s edition & kept that way for this year.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th November 2024, 7:49
@jeffheinick Unfortunately this year’s race did not feel like a good race to watch. 2023 was, but too high a price was paid for it.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th November 2024, 17:50
lynn-m The Las Vegas street circuit’s flow definitely makes it enjoyable to drive & so far the racing quality has also been good.
I certainly find it more enjoyable on both these counts than Monaco or quite a few other current circuits.
However, I also noticed the engagement was relatively little over the weekend.
Ironically, the Las Vegas GP could end up under threat in the long term if it continues to negatively affect local businesses so even though they intend to use the option for further six years after next year, they still might be unable to honor that, given the possible long-term court implications.
MichaelN
26th November 2024, 19:49
Having Las Vegas as F1’s headline event in North America and then scheduling it so that it’s convenient for Chinese and German viewers is a mix between a farce and hilarious.
Just have the race at dusk. It’s better for the teams, better for the trackside audience, and TV viewers can actually see the environment of what is purported to be this cool place. The dynamic range required to capture a floodlight-lit track at midnight and the city is just too much. It doesn’t work.
And so what if it’s something like 03:00 in Europe? All races in the western Americas (Canada, Brazil, Miami) are pretty awful timing for China, too. It’s not a big deal. There aren’t that many places other than the US West Coast that are in this time zone anyway. It’s only going to be this one race.
MichaelN
26th November 2024, 19:50
Canada, Brazil, Miami being in the east, of course.
S
27th November 2024, 6:13
Exactly – so no need to change it from where it is.
Don
26th November 2024, 22:21
Why is the start time so idiotic? Why not start it at noon or early afternoon Vegas time so it’s in prime time in Europe? The locals hate every second they have to deal with all the disruptions. I’m American and would like to see one race at COTA and leave it at that.
lynn-m
26th November 2024, 23:40
Because they want it at night so they can have a lot of beauty shots of the las vegas lights because lets be honest when most people think of las vegas they think of all the neon.
Hold it in the day and it’s just another bland city surrounded by a desert.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th November 2024, 7:50
Las Vegas wanted it at the least busy time for them. Any later and it would interfere with morning traffic (the Las Vegas traffic can get that heavy for that long). Much earlier, and it wouldn’t be a night race, which Liberty felt would not make the best use of the location.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
27th November 2024, 7:51
(Before anyone suggests “dusk race”, I believe Abu Dhabi has a contractual monopoly for that in F1).
DaveW (@dmw)
27th November 2024, 21:30
Sainz must report to his Liberty struggle session. How dare he deny the cultural wonder of Las Vegas, Nevada. It has the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, and a large fountain, making the rest of the world basically redundant.