F1 'blamed' for Las Vegas Grand Prix problems

A senior figure within Formula 1 has claimed that they were blamed for problems at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix that were not their doing.

The highly-anticipated street race along the iconic Vegas strip was introduced to the Formula 1 calendar last year, marking an exciting return to the city for the sport. However, it is fair to say the first edition of the modern-day race did not go down without any hitches.

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Ferrari star Carlos Sainz drove over and brought up a manhole that saw huge delays and practice time around the circuit severely limited ahead of the race, for example.

Off the track, meanwhile, there was criticism surrounding traffic and congestion, and the decision to put screens up at certain points to block the general public from being able to view the action.

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Las Vegas GP 2024 update

Now, the chief commercial officer of F1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Emily Prazer, has claimed that 2024 has been an 'easier sell', with there less to do in terms of preparing the track this year and therefore, less disruption.

"It was definitely an easier sell [this year]," Prazer explained, via ESPN.

"I think, obviously, we were just trying to build a racetrack last year, and it was all very unknown. And with that, we're not repaving the whole of Las Vegas this year."

Prazer added that F1 often took the brunt of blame in 2023 even when things may not have been their fault.

"We were also blamed last year for things that were not us. People just assumed -- there was a traffic cone out, that meant it was F1," F1's COO added.

"We're not the type to kind of bite back. Formula 1 don't argue in public. It's not who we are. So we never really commented on some of the 'Oh well, F1's building this like 20 miles away from the track'. Like, 'Really?'. So there was a lot of that last year.

"This year, we've worked much, much more closely with the Clark County Commission and a couple of particular commissioners that have really actually educated us on how we should communicate with the locals and making sure that our traffic management plan was submitted in enough time for them to be able to review it and give us feedback and work with us on it."

Despite the above sounding like a positive development, it was reported earlier this year that hotel rates in Vegas were down, suggesting the demand for this year's race is not quite as high as last year's.

Nevertheless, F1 has announced exciting plans for the weekend in what should once again be a very unique race on the sport's calendar.

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