Sin City promises an even greater show as F1 returns

As fans trudged away from their expensive acquired seats on night one of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, having seen just eight minutes of cars on track before “manhole gate”, one question sprung to mind: how could the sport come back for this?

- KIERAN JACKSON

Yet beyond all the fanfare which inevitably accompanied Formula One’s lavish return to Sin City last year, what actually saved the inaugural event was the Saturday night race itself. We had overtakes – 82 in fact, the most of any circuit during its debut grand prix – we had safety cars and we had last-lap drama. For a sport which veers too blatantly in the direction of spectacle at times, it was a refreshing nod to the drama the action on track can deliver.

So as F1 returns to Vegas this weekend for episode two in this 10-part drama – with a decade-long contract and F1 investing $500m (£397m) into a race they promote themselves – the foundations are built. The 17-turn, 6.2km track with an epic straight along the Vegas strip is conducive to nip-and-tuck racing. The setting speaks for itself: Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, hosting the glitziest and noisiest sport on the planet.

But now, they even have a sporting unpredictability which was badly lacking last year – the key ingredient. Even if Max Verstappen, for the fourth time on the spin, can seal the title this weekend by finishing higher than title rival Lando Norris.

“Vegas looked good on TV, cars going down the strip, with all the lights – I think it ticked a lot of the boxes that F1 wanted to tick by going there,” Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok tells The Independent, as the 2024 season inches towards its finale in the weeks ahead.