Walking the strip at 350 km/h: F1 returns to Las Vegas after 40 years

Formula 1 discovers America. On the contrary, it rediscovers them. Next year there will be three major awards with stars and stripes. Along with the successful Austin Race on the Circuit of the Americas, and the Miami Grand Prix that kicks off the season on May 8, the GP race at the Las Vegas lights will also be scheduled for 2023. It’s not just any race. The world capital of entertainment and “games”, Nevada’s nightlife is an essential test of the circus’ success. When a demonstration lands in the desert near the Pacific Ocean, it means the wind is blowing. Never before has Speed ​​League had such a large audience to establish itself even in a “new world” that has interpreted motorsport in its own way. A planet where the competitive spirit is always subordinate to the show and the idols are those who fly in ovals at a rate of over 300, with individual seats or regular cars doing the same.

However, the current F1 appears to have had successes, Capable of luring even cowboys into duels between heroes who have ambitions to rise to the role of warriors. In addition, the caravan has become a “social” sport where its champions are real stars with millions of followers. Last but not least is the fact that the “promoter”, Liberty Media, is an American company, splendidly led by Stefano Domenicali, the Italian manager who has been living in Formula One since last year. The best guarantee to mix both worlds: Supplying precision engineering and technology. The route will also be centered around adrenaline, a strip of asphalt that winds around the Strip, Las Vegas Boulevard that is the beating heart of the circuit and the city itself. Planetary square kilometers where most of the money is traded. monetary.

The track will have a length of more than 6 km, taking second place after the spa, And in this particular arrangement, he would have expelled Jeddah if the general Saudis had not migrated to another factory, more permanent and less improvised. The city path will have three main straits where the movable pavilion can be used and 14 corners. The single, ground-impact seats that burn fast on the straight line should approach 350 km/h. The big group will be called on Saturday 25 November to ride, obviously artificial lights (in Europe it will be the next morning), 50 laps. The watch goes back 40 years. The field had already pitched its tents here in the early ’80s, but those were other times. The experiment lasts for two years only.

Racing cars at that time paraded in the parking lot The Caesar’s Palace, the hotel that hosted major boxing matches. At 81, Australian Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet won the championship. At 82 the role of Michelle Alburetto came with Terrell Kane “The Lumberjack”. The United States Grand Prix has been held, with some short interruptions, since the end of the 1950s and has often been roving. Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, with bets in Dallas, Phoenix, Detroit (Motor City) and sometimes there was a second race in Long Beach. At the beginning of the new millennium, for eight years, racing took place at the Temple of Speed ​​in Indianapolis where, in 1911, the world’s first track race was held.