On November 21-23 the Las Vegas Strip hosted Formula 1’s 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix where 20 racers from around the world competed to be declared champion. This year, the final standings for the Las Vegas Grand Prix were George Russell from the United Kingdom in first place, Lewis Hamilton from the United Kingdom in second place, and Carlos Sainz from Spain in third place.
Racers completed 50 laps around the 3.8 mile street circuit in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. That is a total of roughly 192.6 miles. Racers zoomed through the Las Vegas Strip Circuit at speeds as high as over 200 miles per hour. The track winds through the city streets, including Las Vegas Boulevard where many popular Las Vegas hotels and casinos exist. The Las Vegas Strip circuit encompassed iconic Las Vegas tourist sites such as the Sphere, Caesars Palace, the Venetian, and the Bellagio.
However, due to the race being right in the middle of the Strip, many popular streets, including Las Vegas Boulevard had to be closed off, or constricted to only a few lanes by concrete blocks and chain-link fences. This created a problem for locals and tourists who desired to drive on the Strip. In addition, barriers across bridges were put up to cover the view of the circuit to people who did not purchase Formula 1 tickets. This was annoying to tourists who did not come specifically for Formula 1 and were restricted from seeing off of the sides of these bridges.
In the past, the Las Vegas Strip has not only hosted the Grand Prix in 2023, but also back in 1981 and 1982.
This year, Las Vegas tourists and locals could buy tickets anywhere from $99 for one-day general admission, to tickets as high as $2,335 in the grandstands. Last year, the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix ticket prices started at a whopping $500 and could get as high as the five million dollar package that Caesars Palace offered. These record high prices last year largely differed from the more affordable prices for tickets this year.
The Las Vegas Sun explains, “Some of the lower prices are an attempt by race officials to make the event affordable for locals, some of whom expressed displeasure in being priced out of the inaugural event.”
Some locals who were unable to attend the races this year still enjoyed being in the same city as Formula 1.
Sophomore Mahaila Nickels shares, “I think it was super cool to see all the F1 drivers post about how much fun they had in Las Vegas and I love how the track looked.”
