When Formula One first announced the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, the sport promised a spectacle, and that's exactly what it is getting but for all the wrong reasons. The race weekend has so far experienced several snafus that have led to fans taking to social media to pan the event.
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The craziness surrounding the Las Vegas Grand Prix began at the opening ceremonies on Wednesday night with the drivers introduced in a similar way to the introduction of tributes in the Hunger Games films.
It got plenty of attention and has quickly been turned into several memes including one posted on The GistUSA's Instagram page.
The GIST USA (@thegistusa) | Instagram profile
The event featured plenty of top music entertainment to give it Hunger Games vibes but some of the drivers weren't very impressed, including 3x-time F1 World Champion and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who was very critical of it.
"Standing up there, you look like a clown," Verstappen said. "99% show, and 1% sporting event."
The craziness didn't end with the opening ceremonies, as drama carried over into early on-track action, as drivers and fans alike had plenty of problems.
F1’s first night in Las Vegas went down the drain…
Fans spent thousands on travel, accommodation and tickets only to see 8 minutes of track action before being removed from the grandstands with no signs of a refund. pic.twitter.com/TxEU5eghis
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Alpine's Esteban Ocon were the unlucky drivers on the Vegas Street Course, as they both hit a loose manhole cover and severely damaged their cars.
For an opening practice session that started at 8:30 pm on Thursday night and then ended in the early hours of Friday morning nothing was good for anyone involved. Fans were later ushered from their grandstand seats at 1:30 a.m., before the second practice, which had been delayed to fix the manhole cover and inspect others on the racetrack, began. Formula One certainly finds itself in a pickle, because the fans only got to see eight total minutes of on-track action, with the second-practice session getting pushed back 2.5 hours.
Motorsport.com reported that the fans were asked to leave due to the security team shifts ending, but for some reason, the statement given by the social media platforms for the event was later deleted, leaving fans wondering if they were going to get refunds.
It certainly isn't fair to the fans, given how much they had to pay to attend this event.
It appears the Las Vegas Grand Prix isn't as Grand as proclaimed. It has already been crazy, and they haven't even qualified or run the race yet. F1 definitely has some things to work out, if they want to have Las Vegas as a yearly event.
