How F1 will close down Vegas the 'American Way' for 2023 GP

The Florida race represented an unusual joint venture between F1 and the local promoter but Vegas is different again – it’s entirely the baby of Liberty and F1, with no middleman. The organisations are working with Liberty subsidiary and leading concert organiser Live Nation.

A close association with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority helped to get all the necessary agreements with the local authorities and the casinos that the track will pass by, and on whose land parts of the track and grandstands will sit.

Indeed, F1 names the “founding partners” of the event as Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Las Vegas, along with “presenting partners” MSG Sphere, Resorts World Las Vegas and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. If you have the big players in town in your side, you’re pretty much set.

And given the high prices quoted for tickets and accommodation packages everyone is banking on it being a huge success. No support races and a 10pm Saturday night start time will certainly be different – it can be pretty cold at that time of year in Nevada.

Building a grand prix circuit in bustling Las Vegas

Bold plans are one thing, but what about the practicalities? It takes weeks and even months to build up the facilities for any street race event, and that is why Liberty pulled off a clever move by buying a plot of land not far from the Strip on which it is building a permanent pit and paddock facility, starting grid, and the opening run of corners.

Not having to erect and disassemble temporary pit buildings in the middle of a city represents a massive shortcut for F1 and it follows the example of Singapore, where the government provided the land for the pit and paddock. It contrasts with Baku, where everything is shipped in each year and built up in the city’s main public square.

The permanent facility will also have a year-round use as F1’s toehold in the city, with potential for a memorabilia shop and regular events.

There was talk of the paddock being split into two areas with one part far away from the pit buildings, and even a suggestion that the starting grid would be several corners away from the pitlane in a more prestigious spot, but it seems that a traditional layout will be used after all.

“We are working on the concept that it should be like Baku, that we hope not so many people are coming with a car, and it should be a no-car event. I think the hotels are probably sufficient enough to give everybody a bed! And then we can really channel the people flow very well.”

The track will be 3.8-miles in length, with as noted a substantial part on public roads. Will those sections be resurfaced to F1 standards?

“Most likely, yes,” says Liedgens. “We are not yet in this final stage. But as you know, the crucial part beside the grip is always the evenness.

“And if you have been ever in Vegas and you’ve been on the Strip, what you see is pretty damaged old asphalt. And since this is a super-fast track, we have to make sure that we guarantee a safe surface for the drivers.”

And then there’s the usual temporary venue problem of manhole covers and drains.

“It’s actually a topic I’m working on very close now with Clark County,” says Liedgens. “They don’t want to go for customised lids and covers, because in the future if you have to replace them, they don’t want to go to Germany or somewhere else in the world to buy them. So we’re looking now for American solutions with screws.

“And what Tilke is always doing after each session is going out, checking the screws. It’s the same as the kerbs. In Miami also you have these metal kerbs, which are screwed down. So we are checking this, and I think it’s pretty normal at each city track.”

A track of 3.8-miles will require more than eight miles of barriers and fencing (allowing for escape roads and so on). While some will be on the permanent sections, putting the rest in place with a minimum of disruption will be a huge task.

“We have the Geobrugg [mobile debris fence] system,” says Liedgens. “We have started producing the concrete blocks already.

“It’s a night race, so we have to have track lighting, and this will be very challenging to bring it in the right spots, and to make it work. But besides this I think it’s a normal stress, what we have faced with all the city tracks!”

Building the Las Vegas Boulevard circuit overnight

Key to the whole operation will be a “supplier compound,” an area where everything is stored before it is put in place at the last minute.

“We’re going to have the track lighting, Tecpro, kerbs. In Jeddah we had a 17,000 square metre compound, which was super, super big and super helpful.

“And from there, which is our base, we will make very detailed schedules to go ahead and install Turn 5 from 10pm to 4am with 70 people and so on.

“We know we have to install it, bring it into position, into place. And then to open for the public, we’re going to lift the blocks out of the line. That’s the advantage of the system. You can bring a block in and out without removing all the line.”

A year seems like a long time to get the track up and running. It’s a bigger window than Tilke had in Jeddah – but that was a project on a previously empty site far away from downtown and fully backed by the government, with any hurdles easily tackled. Won’t Vegas be much more complicated?

“I know where you’re coming from,” says Liedgens. “But I think we have a very good local project management team on site. And we are very transparent. I think this is a key factor too, if not to the public yet, because before you make anything public, you should be sure that you’re doing the right stuff.

“We are very close in negotiation and discussions with all the casinos and hotels. And then we have a very good product management team, which is completely involved in all stages.

“I also made the track in Austin. And I know the American way, it’s ‘Yes, we can.’ And this is absolutely the case, that they have this energy and this positive mindset to do it.”

And life is made easier by the fact that ultimately the client is Liberty and not a third party. After working on so many Grand Prix projects, Tilke knows exactly how to do it and has open channels both to the key F1 players and to the FIA.

“I have my shortcuts to be honest,” says Liedgens. “I don’t have to play the communicator between F1 and the promoter. I think for everybody it was really, really nice to do it in a first step together now, and we all know each other for a long time.

“And I think also the spirit is, ‘Hey, let’s think a little bit out of the box.’ Because we have to find new solutions. Everybody’s expecting to have a massive event. And this is creating a lot of energy, and I really like it.”