Las Vegas GP signals F1’s ambition of US expansion at Europe’s expense

Formula One returns to Australia this weekend after a two-year absence since the sport’s blase attitude toward the oncoming pandemic left it reeling when the meeting in Melbourne fell apart. Mismanagement and hubris had brought F1 low but, finally back at Albert Park, it could not be in ruder health.

F1’s insistence on pushing on with holding the race in 2020 was wildly over-ambitious, up to and including allowing fans to turn up at the gates, only not to be admitted as the event was called off with Covid cases among the teams. That weekend was a nadir for F1’s owners and the FIA. But the recovery since has been nothing short of remarkable. As other sports floundered, F1 put on 17 races in 2020 and a further 22 in 2021, including one of the great championship fights.

This season the plan is to hold 23 races and, last week, F1 announced a race in Las Vegas next year. The significance of which goes far beyond the mere publicity and glamour of staging a race on the Strip. The Las Vegas GP will take place in November, on a Saturday at 10pm, the usual Sunday afternoon scheduling summarily dismissed in order to hit prime time TV in the United States. With Miami and Texas already on the calendar, the US will host three meetings in 2023. Given the sport’s recent history there, this is an extraordinary feat.

F1 enjoyed great popularity in the US in the 60s and 70s, with Watkins Glen rammed with fans, but it has struggled since. From the 1980s on there were periods without a GP, while the brief spell at Indianapolis between 2000 and 2007 ended in ignominy. Racing only returned in 2012 at Austin, a meeting that for some time struggled to bring in the numbers.

Bernie Ecclestone had long tried to pull off a GP in Las Vegas but never