The city with the winning Formula

Bright lights, casinos and now superfast cars? Las Vegas has them all, says James Whaling

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Whoever coined New York “the city that never sleeps” had clearly never been to Las Vegas. Certainly not in Formula One week. When the glitz and glamour of the world’s fastest sport meets the sheer chaos of the world’s craziest city - it takes it to another level.

Las Vegas is like nowhere else. From the moment you touch down in this metropolis of Nevada, after a lengthy 10-and-a-half-hour flight from the UK, any hints of jet lag are forgotten.

The sights and sounds of Sin City are quite literally designed to keep you awake and, more pertinently, keep you spending. From arriving at the mighty Caesars Palace resort, and my base, the Nobu Hotel, I was met with an array of gambling machines and tables occupied 24 hours a day. Numerous casinos on the world-famous Strip even have an artificial blue sky on the ceilings.

And with an extra 150,000 people in the city for the Grand Prix, Vegas took on a new lease of life. This isn't like visiting Silverstone or Brands Hatch. There is no purpose-built F1 track. Instead, Las Vegas Boulevard shuts down to traffic for the weekend, meaning you need your walking boots to get around the hotels, casinos and bars.