Las Vegas became even more chaotic than usual this week with a flurry of F1 cars taking to the streets ahead of next years race.
It will be the first time since 1984 that F1 has returned to the City of Sin, and it’s also a landmark moment for the sport, as it pushed further into North America.
We will have three US Grand Prix next year as Las Vegas looks to capitalise on the success of COTA and the recently added Miami GP.
It is going to be a fascinating spectacle seeing the cars fly down the iconic Vegas strip.
Flying past legendary hotels and casinos such as the Bellagio and the MGM Grand at speeds over 200 mph will be incredible and now we’ve got a taste of what’s to come.
During a demo run on Wednesday, Sergio Perez took one of the Red Bull’s of the past for a ride with adoring fans looking on enjoying the spectacle.
Incredibly, he then followed this up by going through a casino keeping up Red Bulls tradition of testing their car on the terrains off the world.
Formula 1 then staged a a launch party on the Saturday night featuring Checo, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Alex Albon.
In another impressive show the Silver Arrows did donuts although the cars didn’t come return unscathed.
Hamilton was last out and with visibility decreasing the team opted to use neon blue lights that looked more suited to a film from the Fast & Furious franchise.
Perhaps Vin Diesel would have been better suited to job as the multiple world champion hit the central barrier due to the smoke caused by the donuts.
“I nearly crashed yeah” Hamilton said with a smile. “There was so much smoke, and I had no idea where I was. I was completely lost.”
“I couldn’t figure out the buildings so I started pulling out and then the barrier [was there].”
There was no damage done to the car though and it certainly didn’t dampen a fantastic event with a year to go till the race.
Will F1 fans be priced out again?
It wasn’t all good news though with a familiar theme emerging from the promo event in Las Vegas.
A recent study showed hotel prices are increasing by up to 733 per cent for next year’s race weekend.
Much was made about the disparity between the wealth of the Miami GP and the lives of the people outside of the circuit.
Although Las Vegas is known as a playground for the wealthy, these prices will dissuade people from other countries attending the race.
Something that, in my opinion, goes against the ethos of F1 as a global sport.
Some astonishing numbers from the study show the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino would cost $100 for the three-day period in 2022, but $833 for 2023.
The iconic Planet Hollywood also shows a 337 per cent increase from $253 in 2022 to $1106 in 2023.
For one weekend only it might not be the casinos making the most money in Las Vegas.
We’ve seen similar price hikes for international tournaments such as the World Cup in Qatar.
It just points to pure greed from owners who want to squeeze as much as they can out of attendees.
Let’s hope Las Vegas is not as underwhelming and over the top as Miami proved to be earlier in the season.