Las Vegas to host Formula 1 race from 2023

Formula 1 will have a third race in the USA from 2023 after securing a deal for a Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The 3.8-mile track will include a portion of the Nevada resort city’s famous Strip.

It will be a night race and held on a Saturday at 22:00 local time, which will mean it is broadcast early on Sunday morning in Europe (06:00 GMT).

The Sin City joins the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and the new Miami event, which makes its debut in May this year.

F1 president Domenicali said: “This is an incredible moment for F1 that demonstrates the huge appeal and growth of our sport with a third race in the US.”

The initial three-year contract represents a realization of a major ambition by F1 owners Liberty Media, who have made expanding the sport’s reach in America since taking over in 2017.

Domenicali along with Liberty Media chairman, added: “Las Vegas is a destination known around the world for its excitement, hospitality, thrills, and of course, the famous Strip.

“There is no better place for Formula 1 to race than in the global entertainment capital of the world and we cannot wait to be here next year.”

A statement from F1 said the track would “sweep past some of the world’s most legendary landmarks, hotels and casinos”.

F1 said the race will be 50 laps long and that the circuit will have “three main straights and 14 corners, including a high-speed cornering sequence and a single chicane section”.

The race is being promoted in partnership with some of the major casino and hotel groups in the city, including Caesars Palace, Wynn Las Vegas, MGM and the Venetian.

History in Vegas

F1 has held a grand prix in Las Vegas twice before, in 1981 and 1982, when former boss Bernie Ecclestone staged a race in the car park at the Caesars Palace casino.

Through the 1990s, Ecclestone worked with various parties in Las Vegas to try to secure a race on the Strip, but his attempts were always stymied by the refusal of the casino owners to close the famous road. He revived the plans from time to time but never succeeded in securing a deal.

This time, the casinos and hotels are all on board, and it seems this has come about as a result of F1’s growing momentum in the States, which many put down largely to the new audience created by the Netflix show Drive to Survive.

Domenicali has also worked assiduously on relationships with elite power-brokers in Las Vegas since he took on the job at the start of 2021.