A Formula 1 driver, a poker god and a disc jockey legend meet in the elevator. No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke, it’s exactly what happened on Wednesday evening in the hotel Aria in Las Vegas. The brain first has to get used to this overstimulation in a small space when, on the journey down from the 21st floor, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz gets in, then World Series of Poker record winner Phil Hellmuth and then record spinner Carl Cox – although this scene, of course the It is the ultimate symbol of what is happening in this city this weekend.
Yes, there is a Formula 1 race in Las Vegas, the 19th of the season; Red Bull driver Max Verstappen could be crowned world champion shortly before midnight (local time) on the night from Saturday to Sunday, for the fourth time in a row. But there is also a Formula 1 race taking place in Las Vegas, and that means: pressured fun with everything the entertainment industry has to offer. Hellmuth holds out his fist in a fistbump salute and says that he has to shake hands at a celebrity poker tournament. Cox has to go over to the Zoux nightclub, where he will be playing at the closing party on Sunday. Sainz, who played a bit of golf on Wednesday afternoon, is on his way to the lounge at the Aria Casino this weekend Carlos Sainz’ Smooth Operator Dance Lounge is called.
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Okay, then you just have to check the condition of the race track, which, by the way, you could just walk around on Thursday afternoon until three and a half hours before the start of the first free practice session – only then was the legendary strip closed to the public. This at least allows you to check the covers of the water shafts yourself; At the premiere last year, eight minutes after the start of the first free practice session, a cover came loose and severely damaged Sainz’s Ferrari. So you look very closely to see whether there is a risk of another gully gate – and you notice that this time they have secured the covers better or simply concreted them over them. “I hope everything is okay; Safety is always my biggest concern,” says Sainz. The second biggest concern is the temperatures. “We have never had a race in this cold before,” he says: “The route suits us, but the temperatures could be a problem.”
This race is just the sporting addition to an entertainment spectacle
It’s actually freezing cold in Vegas; The thermometer during the second training session on Thursday evening showed six degrees, but it felt like it was only two degrees. “We have to get the tires up to temperature when we drive out,” says Sainz: “We were very weak at that this season.” So you sit in the cold and watch the cars race through turn five and then past the megalomaniac ball concert hall Sphere. And when you look at it you notice what is being advertised on the gigantic outer shell and next to it: This race is just the sporting addition to an entertainment spectacle of gigantic proportions. It’s the main event, sure, but then it’s just one of thousands this weekend. On Sunday, for example, the Raiders football franchise will play against the Denver Broncos in the stadium, which takes less than a quarter of an hour to walk from the race track.
You could fill books with all the events; So here’s just what’s on offer between the Diana Ross concert with guest Sylvester Stallone on Friday evening until the start of the race on Saturday at 10 p.m. if you’re fast enough – it’s definitely manageable: appearances by rapper Ludacris and the DJs Dom Dolla and Snakeships at various locations right along the route. Actress Eva Longoria and actor Jeremy Renner sipping cocktails in the Shoey Bar. The last concert of Adele’s residency; That starts at 8 p.m., so then quickly to the pit lane where Boys II Men will sing the national anthem. After the race: the DJs Tiësto, Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren and Swedish House Mafia in various nightclubs.
Anyone who can’t accept the fact that sport and show are inseparably linked will probably see this Grand Prix in Las Vegas as a harbinger of the apocalypse – as we had already seen last year: the residents were furious because of the preparations and the lockdown of the Strip caused chaos, making the traffic in Manhattan seem like a Zen oasis of well-being. The drivers were pissed off about the track layout – which is designed for maximum exciting images and not maximum driving fun – and gully gate. The fans were furious because they had paid $1,000 and were sent home after Gully Gate before the start of the second training session with $200 vouchers for the fan shop.
Maybe it takes someone who has changed their attitude from “sport or show” to “sport and show,” says Mercedes sports director Toto Wolff
A year later they are all here again. They have improved a lot of things, like the covers on the water shafts or the regulation of traffic, but that’s the way it is: Anyone who gets completely involved in Vegas and accepts the spectacle of sport instead of resenting everything in the past There can hardly be anything more exciting than complaining about the present this Race in this City.
Maybe it takes someone to change their attitude from “Sport or Show” to “Sport and Show”. Mercedes sports director Toto Wolff said during a chat with reporters during the week that he was vehemently against the Netflix documentary series “Drive to Survive” – but it ultimately caused the popularity of Formula 1 to explode, especially in the USA. Suddenly the drivers were no longer untouchable mavericks – whoever is untouchable no longer touches anyone – but rather approachable characters with whom one felt. He was wrong, Wolff now says. When does something like this still happen in the age of my opinion being set in stone? He welcomes the documentary, he welcomes this Grand Prix, and instead of complaining about what’s going on in Las Vegas, you could also ask: What happened in Germany that there’s nothing left in terms of Grand Prix at the moment is going on?
The additional revenue for Las Vegas is said to have amounted to $1.5 billion last year. Of course, such figures should always be viewed with caution – especially when they come from the city itself. What’s more interesting is the comparison that as host of the Super Bowl in February, the Americans’ holy football holiday, they only spoke of an additional billion dollars.
So Formula 1 is more valuable to Vegas than football, which is saying something in this country. Why this should continue to be the case in the future can be seen on the outer shell of the Sphere while Carlos Sainz roars past in the Ferrari – which he has to vacate after the season for Lewis Hamilton, who will then probably present cocktails in the lounge at the Aria that contain non-alcoholic drinks Spirits of his company are mixed: portraits of the drivers of the F1 Academythe women’s racing series. It is the announcement that the 2025 final will take place here, as part of the Formula 1 race. Viva Las Vegas.
