Las Vegas Grand Prix speeds city's transformation into sports juggernaut

LAS VEGAS: The Las Vegas Grand Prix is still more than seven months away but at the corner of Harmon Ave. and Koval Lane, the race is already on to build the massive, state-of-the-art Formula One paddock.

On a recent tour of the bustling construction site, project manager Terry Miller said the goal was to complete work in September, leaving little margin for error with November's inaugural race down the Las Vegas Strip fast approaching.

"It's a symphony," Miller said while donning a hard hat as bulldozers sped around behind him.

"All of the pieces that come in, the logistics of how people move around the site, F1's significant race communications and controls - it all comes back to here," he said.

"This is the heartbeat of the event."

Formula One will get pulses pounding when it returns to Las Vegas after a decades-long absence with a big and brash Saturday night race, the third US F1 event following Miami and Austin.

Organizers expect more than 105,000 fans per day to attend beginning with open practices on Nov. 16-17 and the race on Nov 18. They estimate it will inject around US$1.2 billion into the local economy.

"We think this is going to the biggest sports and entertainment event of the year," Renee Wilm, the CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, told Reuters.

"There has been an absolute transformation in this town and we were so excited to be part of it."

The race dovetails with Las Vegas' metamorphosis from Sin City to Sports City, which began with the launch of the National Hockey League's Golden Knights in 2017 and continued with the relocation of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces in 2018 and the National Football League's Raiders in 2020.

But Formula One brings an international profile on a completely different level from the usual