After a controversial debut race Formula One is finding less resistance from the local community ahead of the second Las Vegas Grand Prix.
F1’s flagship $500 million event featured a race down the famous Las Vegas Strip but the event faced criticism for the road closures and disruptions to local businesses in the lead up to the event.
Greg Maffei, CEO of F1 owners Liberty Media, has already promised the race will be less disruptive this year.
According to numbers released by a Clark County report in April, the economic benefits linked to the race neared $1.5 billion.
F1 is finding less resistance as its preparations get better and now locals have an idea of what the end product is.
“It was definitely an easier sell [this year],” Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer for F1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc., said.
“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.”
F1’s involvement with the Las Vegas GP is unique, as it is the only race on the schedule not promoted by an independent body — F1 doubles up as both promoter and commercial rights holder at the event.
Prazer said F1 was frustrated at the amount of criticism which swirled around ahead of the maiden event last year, some of which she pointed out was unrelated to the race itself.
“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.
“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.”
The controversial Flamingo Road bridge, which took traffic over the Koval Street section of race track, has also been slimmed down from four lanes to two for this year in a bid to ease congestion, which Prazer pointed to as one example where F1 has acknowledged an issue and made tweaks.
“The bridge is going to be smaller so the local businesses around there will be less affected. So we’re just taking those next steps. But like I said at the beginning, a year one event is a learning curve. I think you continue to learn. But hopefully that has shown.”
A fan festival has also been planned for the days leading up to the event on Nov. 14.
F1 has also confirmed the Las Vegas Grand Prix this year will feature an ice rink on the paddock roof for VIP guests of the Paddock Club, while the Ferrari Challenge championship series will feature on the support bill.