The start of this year’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix has been brought forward two hours to 20:00 local time.

F1’s governing body, the FIA unveiled the official start times for all 24 Grands Prix in 2025 on Monday.

Las Vegas, Round 22 of the 24-race calendar will have a revised schedule this year, with qualifying and the race taking place at 20:00 local time on November 22.

The Las Vegas GP is unique in that it is a night race held on the iconic streets of Sin City.

This presents a significant challenge, as the Las Vegas streets are kept open during daytime hours throughout the GP weekend, prompting a lengthy set-up and close-down operation of the circuit.

Also unique is the fact that the race is held on a Saturday night rather than the usual Grand Prix Sunday.

After lights out commenced at 22:00 local time (01:00 ET, 06:00 GMT) in 2023 and 2024, the 2025 event will get underway at 20:00 (23:00 ET, 04:00 GMT). 

Las Vegas is one of several evening/night races on the 2025 F1 calendar.

Round 4 in Bahrain hits lights out at 18:00 local time and a week later the Saudi Arabian GP commences at 20:00 local time.

Singapore (20:00), Qatar (19:00) and Abu Dhabi (17:00) will go to lights out at non-conventional times also.

For the remainder of the F1 calendar, races will commence in the rational afternoon hours of 14:00 through 15:00, with one exemption.

That is the Miami GP, which will get underway at 16:00 local time on May 04.

READ MORE – How F1 Las Vegas turned into the ultimate luxury platform

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Zhou Guanyu has revealed that Ferrari is a “really interested” party in securing his services as a Reserve Driver in 2025 with the Chinese driver admitting he’s talking to “several” Formula 1 teams.

Zhou’s full-time career in F1 has come to a temporary halt after three seasons with Sauber and 2024 was the toughest of the lot.

The Chinese driver scored the squad’s only points with eighth place in the penultimate round of the campaign in Qatar.

Zhou learnt ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that he was being replaced at Sauber by Gabriel Bortoleto next year but told select media including Motorsport Week that plans were already in motion for 2025.

“We’re talking to several teams and, of course, Ferrari remains one of the teams really interested in me,” Zhou revealed.

“We need to see, obviously there’s a lot of things coming up with the next few weekends for us to make a decision, but it’s clear we are going through all the options we have and seeing where we are.

“From my side, I don’t want to commit to the future just yet because I want to make sure everything is set down and is clear, and have a massive commitment to the next project.

“Hopefully something will be happening and decided soon.

“I think somewhere around the next few weeks I will have a clear idea.”

Why a Ferrari reserve role makes sense for Zhou Guanyu

Ferrari has yet to confirm its Reserve Driver options for 2025 and has remained coy on the subject of Zhou joining the team.

The Italian outfit has gaps to fill in its Reserve Driver pool thanks to the departures of Oliver Bearman and Robert Schwartzman.

Bearman has signed a race contract with Haas and Schwartzman cut ties with the Scuderia to join Prema’s IndyCar project.

In light of this, a deal with Zhou makes sense for multiple reasons.

Firstly, Zhou has been a part of the Ferrari set-up before as a member of its Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018.

Moreover, the Chinese driver was signed to Sauber in 2022 when Vasseur was still at the helm of the Hinwil-based project.

For Zhou, a deal with Ferrari has multiple benefits beyond being just a Reserve Driver.

It would give him the possibility to take part in a race programme within the Scuderia’s Hypercar project and it provides a potential pathway to a full-time F1 drive.

Zhou is managed by Cadillac Team Principal Graeme Lowdon and the American marque has just signed to be a Ferrari engine customer in 2026 and ’27.

Should a Reserve Driver role materialise with Ferrari next year, circumstances could put him in pole position for a race seat at Cadillac a year later.

READ MORE – Zhou Guanyu expected to land Ferrari F1 reserve driver role for 2025 – report

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]Williams’ Franco Colapinto must “prove his worth” to Formula 1 suitors like Red Bull after a “foolish” crash in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Colapinto’s F1 future is far from certain with the Argentine competing in the penultimate GP of his 2024 stand-in stint with Williams.

The Williams Academy driver has impressed since making his F1 debut, replacing Logan Sargeant, at the Italian Grand Prix scoring five points.

But an unforced error that resulted in a totalled Williams FW46 machine during qualifying in Las Vegas has given him work to do.

“[The crash in Vegas] is on him, and it was a foolish one,” Colapinto’s manager Jamie Campbell-Walter told Motorsport Magazine.com.

“And it’s the pressure of not knowing what your future is, which is sometimes much worse than knowing what it is.

“And you never know what happens to these drivers in those pressure situations.

“We’ve got to bounce back, and just carry on and do the job. And he’s got two more weekends to prove his worth.”

‘A good chance’ Franco Colapinto will land a 2025 F1 seat

With Williams having already secured the long-term services of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz for 2025 and beyond, Colapinto must convince the likes of Red Bull and Alpine to commit to contractual trickery to get himself on the grid next year.

Both teams have reportedly expressed an interest in Colapinto’s services.

With Red Bull, Colapinto’s future hangs on if the likes of Sergio Perez or Liam Lawson miss out on staying on the grid next year.

Regarding Alpine, the Anglo-French outfit would have to mercilessly cut ties with Jack Doohan before his pre-arranged F1 debut next year.

Campbell-Walter expressed positive regarding Colapinto’s future but implied the Vegas crash has complicated matters.

“As it stands we have a long-term contract with Williams,” he said. “There’s interest. I would say that before the qualifying crash, everything was looking good.

“There is a good chance that we’ll see him on the grid next year, but I think some people want to see how he does in the next few races, which is fair enough.

“They’ve got plenty of drivers, so there is no rush…”

Campbell-Walter went onto suggest Colapinto is worth taking a risk on given how he has been able to push team-mate Albon and even referenced Max Verstappen’s meteoric rise in the sport.

“Max was a star in the making when he was a young kid at Toro Rosso, and he made lots of mistakes,” he said.

“Franco’s made two mistakes. And I think people can see what he’s done against a very good, experienced team-mate.

“Sargeant never was seven-tenths ahead of Albon. Franco was [in Vegas], and it’s not the first time he’s done that.

“So I think people can see through the fact that he’s limited in experience, he’s a rookie.

“Is he going to be given a joker card for the odd crash here or there in his first few races?

“Probably yes, I would hope so. I hope people can see through that, and see the value in him as a human being, because he’s a great kid.”

READ MORE – Could Franco Colapinto be the answer to Red Bull’s second driver conundrum?

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Mercedes reckons the interruption that occurred in qualifying contributed to the errors that thwarted Lewis Hamilton‘s win hopes in Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The German marque sustained an unanticipated upswing in competitiveness last weekend as George Russell converted his pole position to head a 1-2 with Hamilton.

But while Russell dominated proceedings, Hamilton was forced to fight through the order as mistakes on his two runs in Q3 resigned him to lining up 10th on the grid.

Hamilton, who crossed the line seven seconds behind his team-mate, asserted post-race that the win would’ve been a “breeze” had he started closer to the sharp end.

The Briton topped the opening two practice hours and had continued to look competitive until a lock-up into Turn 14 on his first Q3 attempt preceded a snap in Turn 3.

Hamilton was perplexed as he highlighted that his Mercedes W15 car had “felt different” on both his runs in the final session compared to the previous two segments.

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin suspects the stoppage before the last stage due to Franco Colapinto’s Q2 shunt had an impact on Hamilton.

“He was very happy in Q2 and very comfortable with the car,” Shovlin told media including Motorsport Week at the Qatar Grand Prix.

“I think the interruption to the program wouldn’t have suited him.

“I think without that there’s he would have certainly been on the front row and he looked like he had a good chance of being on pole.

“But the track reset, you then got this long break while they recover the car and I think he just got out of out of that rhythm a bit.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t get two clean laps and that’s what put him in P10.”

Hamilton’s comeback surpassed expectations

Shovlin branded Hamilton’s impressive comeback a “strong performance”, one which he revealed exceeded all the pre-race simulations that Mercedes had processed.

Asked what that said about Hamilton, Shovlin replied: “That he was pretty determined to get a good result and he tried very hard to chase down George.

“But clearly George having a clear run at it from the front meant he was able to build a comfortable gap.

“But it was fantastic to see Lewis in such good form and hopefully we’ll get some more brilliant results with him before the end of the year.”

Mercedes still deciphering sudden pace surge

Russell conceded post-race that Mercedes was at a loss to explain its sudden surge, having endured a wretched run comprising one podium since the summer break.

Shovlin has explained that Mercedes is still deciphering the reason behind its emergence as the pacesetting team outside of the cooler temperatures suiting the W15.

“The honest answer is we don’t understand every bit of why we were fast there.

“For sure the cold conditions suit us and we often see that in the hottest conditions, we slip back a bit.

“But it’s always difficult because there’s inevitably an element of we move forward and others move back.

“It’s hard enough to diagnose problems with your own car let alone to try and work out what others were struggling with.

“But it was nice that the car was working well, but then if you look at the final stints of the race, Ferrari, McLaren, they were actually pretty quick.

“So I think our early pace was very impressive, our single lap was impressive, but perhaps the picture if you took the end of the race, they were certainly closer.”

READ MORE – Lando Norris bills Mercedes as favourites to win F1 Qatar GP

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Charles Leclerc has denied his spat with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz in the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix has created lingering tension between the two drivers.

Leclerc was incensed and launched into an expletive-ridden radio message post-race last weekend over an incident which saw Sainz ignore a Ferrari team instruction.

Sainz was ordered to not overtake Leclerc as the latter exited the pit lane for the second time on Lap 31, but the Spaniard opted to complete a move down into Turn 4.

Leclerc, who came home in fourth as Sainz completed the podium places in third, proceeded to express that he was the one driver who respects Ferrari’s agreements.

However, Leclerc has insisted that there is no lasting friction going into this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix to detract from Ferrari’s ambition to win the Constructors’ title.

“I don’t want to go back to what happened in Vegas,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week.

“I mean last two races of the season and we need to do absolutely everything in order to get that Constructors’ Championship, that’s all that matters.

“And whatever happened in Vegas, we discussed about it. We are all good which is the most important thing.

“I had no doubts about that because we’ve always had a really good relationship with Carlos and we’ve had races where sometimes things don’t go exactly the way we want.

“But the most important thing is we discuss about it and go forward and it’s very clear for both of us we want to win the Constructors and it’s by working as a team that we’ll achieve that.

“I’m sure there won’t be any problems with it.”

Leclerc certain Ferrari won’t have more problems

Leclerc expressed that he and Sainz, who will leave Ferrari once this season ends, have become accustomed to dealing with situations when there have been clashes.

“[I] have a really good relationship with Carlos. Sometimes I have overstepped the lines and sometimes he did and then it only requires discussion between us two.

“We look ourselves in the eye and we’ve known each other for a very long time now and we understand each other very, very quickly. So I have no doubts.

“Sometimes we need these kind of things to reset a little bit and I have no doubts that going into the last two races of the season there won’t be any problems or whatsoever.

“Because, at the end, it’s [a] benefit for both of us to try and win the Constructors.

“We know that an opportunity like that doesn’t happen very often and we’ve got to do absolutely everything on both of our sides in order to try and win that.”

Sainz insists Leclerc clashes are natural

Sainz concurred with his team-mate’s assessment as he highlighted that tempers boiling over are bound to transpire at points when the two tend to be close on track.

Asked whether he agreed with Leclerc’s comments, Sainz responded: “No, I fully agree. It always happens with us.

“We go through some misunderstandings that in the heat of the moment we obviously are quite vocal about and we feel very frustrated about.

“After a couple of days have gone by and you can see everything with a bit more perspective, relativise everything a bit more and give yourself a bit of time to analyse things and to conclude what happens and you realise that when you talk through things you can actually understand them and put them behind.

“That’s the exercise that we’ve been having to do for four years because we’re always sharing the same piece of tarmac and we’re always fighting each other on track because we’re driving the same car and we are equally on pace and we’ve gone through this so often that we know how to talk and then move on from it.”

READ MORE – Carlos Sainz clarifies Charles Leclerc spat at Ferrari after F1 Las Vegas GP

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In the latest episode of Motorsport Speak – the podcast brought to you by Motorsport Monday and Motorsport Week – Dan Lawrence and Jack Oliver Smith review the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix which saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clinch his fourth straight Drivers’ title.

An enthralling weekend in Vegas also saw Mercedes return to winning ways, with George Russell clinching pole position before leading a team one-two finish in the GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Moreover, Ferrari edged close to McLaren in the Constructors’ standings, with just 24 points separating F1’s sleeping giants with two rounds of the 2024 calendar to go.

The Constructors’ fight isn’t just at the top, with Haas reclaiming sixth in the standings ahead of Alpine and RB, with just four points separating the three teams.

Dan and Jack speak on all of this after the second edition of the Las Vegas GP, as well as diving into the big news announcement of the weekend, General Motors securing a spot on the 2026 F1 grid.

How did General Motors succeed where Michael Andretti failed, and who will be the potential drivers when the Cadillac F1 name joins the F1 circus in 2026?

Dan and Jack ponder these questions as well as looking ahead to this weekend’s Qatar GP, where McLaren looks to be the fancied team going in.

READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton ‘would have breezed’ F1 Las Vegas GP claim challenged

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Fernando Alonso has said Max Verstappen’s title rivals have failed to “intimidate” him as he vows to fight the Red Bull driver for the Formula 1 title in 2026.

Alonso failed to score points for Aston Martin as he finished in 11th place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Verstappen sealed his fourth consecutive championship.

The Dutchman joined an exclusive list of F1 champions with four or more World Championships, as he became the sixth driver to do so.

This year’s victory has been hailed by many as Verstappen’s most impressive and hard-fought success due to Red Bull’s decline in competitiveness over the season.

However, Alonso has questioned the mentality of Verstappen’s championship contenders as he signalled his ambitions once the regulations are overhauled in 2026.

“Everyone who has fought Max for championships so far hasn’t managed to intimidate him much,” the Spaniard told DAZN.

“Hopefully it’s my turn someday and I can change that story.

“Congratulations to Max,” he added. “I hope to be there in 2026.”

Alonso applauds Verstappen

The Spaniard expressed how someone needs to take the fight to Verstappen and although he hopes that may be himself, he conceded that he would have to wait until at least 2026.

Of course, Adrian Newey will be designing the Aston Martin challenger for the 2026 season once the new regulations come into force that year.

Despite the fighting talk, Alonso was quick to recognise Verstappen’s achievement after the race.

“Obviously a big, big congratulations [to Verstappen],” he told the media including Motorsport Week.

“This one, it has to feel very special to him I imagine, because the car is not maybe as dominant as last year.

“So I think he did an incredible performance this year to put the car in a position that it was not maybe realistic.

“And the best example is Brazil.

“So yeah, this is all down to him this year and he was the best.

“So always things to learn from a driver like him in this kind of performances this year.”

READ MORE: Fernando Alonso frustrated by media questioning amid Aston Martin F1 issues

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When Sylvester Stallone waved the chequered flag on Formula 1‘s sophomore Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Mercedes’ George Russell claiming victory under the neon lights of The Strip, it marked more than just the culmination of a race weekend.

It represented the full realisation of F1’s most ambitious experiment yet: transforming a 3.8-mile stretch of America’s entertainment capital into what has rapidly become the sport’s most potent commercial platform.

The numbers tell part of the story: Last year’s inaugural event generated an economic impact of $1.5 billion for Nevada and produced $77 million in tax revenue – surpassing even the Super Bowl’s local economic footprint. This economic boost wasn’t limited to tourism and hospitality; live sports betting played a significant role, with major sportsbooks reporting record wagers on the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Fans eagerly bet on race winners, podium finishes, and even fastest lap times, making the event a magnet for seasoned and casual punters alike. But the true significance of F1’s Vegas venture lies in how it has revolutionised the intersection of motorsport, luxury marketing, and experiential commerce.

“Vegas is imprinted in my DNA,” declared restaurateur Simon Kim at a preview of Cote’s upcoming Venetian location during race weekend. It’s a sentiment that could equally apply to F1’s strategic vision for the event. The sport has effectively reimagined what a Grand Prix weekend can be, creating a template that transforms a sporting event into a multi-faceted luxury lifestyle platform.

Consider the Bellagio Fountain Club, where $12,500 tickets granted access to an experience that merges high-performance racing with haute cuisine. Here, Michelin-starred chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Masaharu Morimoto prepared dishes mere feet from where cars screamed past at 220 mph. The juxtaposition was precisely the point – this wasn’t just about watching a race, but about crafting a new category of ultra-luxury sports hospitality.

The commercial ecosystem extended far beyond traditional racing partnerships. Beauty brand Dermalogica followed up on the precedent set by Charlotte Tilbury in Miami, and established a beachhead at the event, recognising F1’s growing appeal among female audiences. Luxury houses from Balenciaga to Louis Vuitton leveraged the weekend for exclusive product drops and VIP client experiences. Even Mastercard’s new partnership with McLaren unveiled in a theatrical production at the KÀ theatre at MGM Grand, spoke to how brands are utilising F1’s Las Vegas platform to elevate standard sponsorship arrangements into immersive brand moments.

The theatrical unveiling of Mastercard’s partnership with McLaren at KÀ Theatre within MGM Grand exemplified the kind of elevated brand storytelling that has become de rigueur in Formula 1’s new era. Set against the otherworldly backdrop of Cirque du Soleil’s most technologically advanced stage—complete with its revolutionary five-axis rotating platform suspended above a 60-foot void—the announcement transcended mere corporate ceremony to become performance art in its own right.

Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar and McLaren CEO Zak Brown emerged from the theatrical abyss on the stage’s rising platform, an appropriately dramatic entrance that set the tone for their partnership’s ambitious vision. The setting wasn’t merely a theatrical flourish—it was a deliberate statement about how Mastercard, ranked as the world’s 11th most valuable brand, plans to transform traditional sponsorship into immersive “priceless” experiences.

“We are an experiential marketing firm,” Rajamannar explained during the intimate roundtable discussion, staged dramatically on KÀ’s rotating platform. “We identify what people are truly passionate about and curate experiences through partnerships that cannot simply be bought off the shelf.” This philosophy manifested immediately through their “135” initiative—offering premium grandstand experiences at $135 to commemorate Oscar Piastri’s fastest lap from the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, an elegant marriage of accessible luxury and racing heritage.

The partnership represents a fascinating confluence of commercial sophistication and cultural acumen. McLaren’s status as Formula 1’s most beloved brand among female fans—who influence 80% of consumer spending decisions—aligned perfectly with Mastercard’s strategic imperative to engage this demographic. The financial services giant brings its extensive experience activating sponsorships across Major League Baseball, soccer, and esports to bear on Formula 1’s rapidly evolving American landscape.

Brown noted that the activation potential extends far beyond traditional branding, hinting at future collaborations that could see “Mastercard McLaren” emerge as the team’s title—a partnership evolution that both executives agreed had “a nice ring to it.” The relationship will be immediately visible through the rebranding of the McLaren Lounge as the “Mastercard McLaren Priceless Lounge,” though both parties emphasised that physical branding is merely the foundation for more ambitious experiential innovations to come.

The Las Vegas GP’s approach to exclusivity proved remarkably nuanced, orchestrating a carefully calibrated hierarchy of experiences that transformed mere ticket categories into distinct lifestyle propositions. From the meticulously curated hospitality garages—where celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay reimagined the intersection of motorsport and haute cuisine—to the architectural marvel of the Paddock Club, each tier was conceived as its own microcosm of luxury.

This sophisticated stratification reflected a broader strategic vision. As Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc., noted earlier this year, “We recognised the strong demand for a greater variety of pricing options and significantly more general admission tickets, so we prioritised the creation of new product offerings to appeal to a wider audience of our fans.” This democratisation of access, rather than diminishing the event’s cachet, only served to enhance its allure.

The strategy has proved transformative. Despite criticism of high prices during the inaugural event, attendance for this year’s race still reached over 306,000. More tellingly, the event has become a powerful platform for luxury brands to connect with high-net-worth individuals in an organic setting.

Aston Martin exemplified this opportunity with their $18 million British Bloodline Experience at the Fontainebleau. The showcase artfully wove together the marque’s past and future through a carefully orchestrated display of over 20 vehicles, from the timeless elegance of a 1952 DB2 to the raw modernity of the 2025 Vanquish. The exhibition’s crowning touch was its Bond connection, featuring a DB5 stunt car from “No Time To Die” and the North American debut of the DB12 Goldfinger Edition—a subtle reminder of the brand’s six-decade romance with cinema’s most famous spy.

Mercedes-AMG took a different approach, constructing a three-story hospitality space that merged racing heritage with contemporary luxury. The structure housed virtual garage experiences and culinary programming, creating an immersive brand environment that transcended traditional corporate hospitality.

In The Chalet atop the Paddock Building, Do & Co’s exquisite catering established a refined atmosphere, while Steve Aoki’s performance added contemporary energy to the setting. His stage, positioned between a Glice ice rink and Saint Honorè doughnuts, embodied Las Vegas’s distinctive ability to blend luxury with accessibility.

The culinary programming throughout the Paddock area proved particularly memorable, with Sushi by Scratch Kitchens offering an intimate 30-minute omakase experience that epitomised F1’s attention to detail. Limited to just 10 guests per sitting, with reservations required hours in advance, the experience culminated in a masterfully executed bone marrow-enhanced eel preparation that spoke to the event’s commitment to elevating every aspect of the race weekend beyond the expected. Motorsport Week’s Editor-in-Chief Graham Harris and I had the pleasure of attending one of the seatings, and it lived up to the hype and more.

What’s particularly noteworthy is how the event has managed to maintain its exclusive appeal while simultaneously broadening its accessibility. The genius lies in F1’s reimagining of what constitutes value at each price point. Consider the democratising influence of the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere, where general admission tickets—starting at an accessible $100—granted access not merely to race viewing, but to a curated festival atmosphere featuring performances by OneRepublic and Alesso. This shrewd integration of contemporary entertainment transformed what might have been merely entry-level seating into a distinct cultural proposition.

The architectural progression of experiences proved equally considered. From the Caesars Palace Experience to the rarefied air of the Wynn Grid Club, each tier was conceived not simply as a viewing platform but as a complete lifestyle ecosystem. The Bellagio Fountain Club, at $12,500, represented perhaps the most artful execution of this strategy—where the spectacle of racing merged seamlessly with culinary artistry and the iconic dancing waters, creating an experience that transcended mere hospitality to become a cultural touchstone.

At the summit of this carefully orchestrated hierarchy, the $35,000 celebrity chef garages and brand partnership activations like the Mercedes Las Vegas Club elevated the concept of exclusivity itself. Here, traditional notions of luxury gave way to something more nuanced—intimate culinary moments with Gordon Ramsay, advanced technical experiences through virtual reality installations, and the kind of personal access to the sport that money alone cannot buy.

“We recognized the strong demand for a greater variety of pricing options,” notes Renee Wilm, CEO of Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. “We fully embrace all of our fans, from backpackers to billionaires.” This tiered approach to accessibility mirrors luxury fashion’s contemporary strategy of maintaining exclusivity at the highest level while creating accessible entry points that build brand affinity.

The transformation of The Strip into a racing circuit has also catalyzed innovation in hospitality design. Purpose-built structures like the Bellagio Fountain Club demonstrate how temporary architecture can create extraordinary experiences that feel both exclusive and authentic to their setting. The integration of The Sphere as a theatrical backdrop for the race further emphasized Vegas’s unique ability to merge entertainment and sport in unprecedented ways.

The true genius of the event lies in how it creates moments of connection across its various tiers of experience. As one first-time attendee observed from Club Paris at the Paris Hotel—a tri-level vantage point offering everything from fine dining at Alexxa to the neon-wrapped ambience of Cheri inside the Eiffel Tower replica—the race weekend fosters a particular kind of communion among fans. Over champagne and carefully curated menus, attendees from Dublin to Daytona share stories of their journey into F1 fandom, each perspective adding to the rich tapestry of the sport’s growing cultural resonance.

Looking ahead, F1’s Vegas experiment appears poised for further evolution. The announcement of the Grand Prix Plaza, a year-round F1 experience opening in 2025, signals a commitment to maintaining a permanent presence in the city. This $240 million investment will feature everything from high-tech racing simulators to exclusive retail concepts, creating a fixed anchor for the F1 brand between race weekends.

What’s perhaps most remarkable about F1’s Vegas strategy is how it has managed to create a template for modern luxury sports marketing that feels neither forced nor artificial. By embracing Vegas’s natural predisposition for spectacle and combining it with F1’s technical precision and global cachet, the event has created something entirely new: a hybrid platform that serves equally well as a world-class sporting event and a luxury marketing vehicle.

Even the timepieces adorning attendees’ wrists told a story of luxury market dynamics in flux. In the rarefied air of the Paddock Club, Rolex dominated the horological landscape—a fitting if somewhat ironic observation given LVMH’s recent coup in securing F1’s official timekeeper rights for TAG Heuer, marking the end of Rolex’s long-standing partnership with the sport. And to be quite transparent, I felt a bit left out of the Rolex party because of the Omega Seamaster on my own wrist, although I was quite pleased to find two others who matched my Omega affinity, you know who you are.

But I digress.

The success of this approach suggests we may be witnessing the emergence of a new model for how global sporting properties can create value in the modern era. It’s no longer enough to simply stage a great race – the real opportunity lies in creating immersive environments where commerce, culture, and competition can seamlessly coexist.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix represents Formula 1’s successful integration into America’s entertainment capital. The success of the Las Vegas model raises questions about F1’s future event strategy:

• Will other venues adopt elements of the Las Vegas template?
• Can the direct promotion model be replicated in other markets?
• How will traditional European races evolve to compete with new-generation events?
• What role will permanent infrastructure play in future venue selections?

The answers to these questions will shape F1’s commercial evolution in the coming decades.

 READ MORE – Motorsport Week’s F1 2024 Las Vegas GP Driver Ratings

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Martin Brundle dismissed Lewis Hamilton’s claim that he would have ‘breezed the race’ if he started further up the grid in the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion started from 10th on the grid after making errors on both of his flying laps in Q3.

Hamilton stormed his way through the order setting the timing sheets a light as he applied the pressure, late on in the race, to George Russell.

Russell held on for the win and his second victory this season as Hamilton had to settle for second place.

After the race, the 39-year-old expressed how if he had qualified higher in Qualifying the GP would have been a “breeze today”.

However, Brundle reckons his Mercedes team-mate Russell had enough pace to cover off any threat from Hamilton.

“Hamilton in the sister Mercedes had looked equally fast, albeit with a few trips up the escape road here and there,” Brundle said in his Sky Sports F1 column.

“Sadly for him, he had two poor laps in final qualifying when the back end stepped out and he would start a lowly 10th.

“He said post-race that had he started at the front he would have breezed the race, which surprised Russell a little.

“There’s no doubt Russell had more pace if he’d needed it.”

Brundle praises Mercedes duo

Before the race weekend, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that “everyone has a shelf-life” which he soon cleared up that it was not a reference to his own driver Hamilton.

Going into the Las Vegas, Hamilton admitted he considered quitting early after a horrendous race weekend in Brazil.

But he turned up and in typical Hamilton fashion, he displayed a vintage performance to take his fifth podium of the year.

Despite disagreeing with the British driver’s verdict that he could have won the race, Brundle praised the performance of the Mercedes driver.

He added: “However, it was a standout drive from Lewis, picking his way through serious contenders up into second place and finishing just seven seconds behind at the flag. 

“The fans rightly voted him driver of the day, and he answered some questions a few have been throwing at him lately about being over the hill.”

The 65-year-old also applauded the performance of Russell, as he felt his efforts went unnoticed at the Las Vegas GP after Max Verstappen was crowned World Champion.

“In all the championship noise you must feel sorry for George Russell, who qualified impressively on pole position and simply dominated the race,” he said.

“He was so far out front for most of the 50 laps we hardly saw him given the battles raging behind.

“It was an assured performance from George who is looking very much the real deal in terms of leading that team into the future.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton: F1 Las Vegas GP ‘would have been a breeze’ without qualifying blunder

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“Things have to improve” at Red Bull to turn four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen into a five-time champion, according to his father Jos.

Christian Horner said following the Dutchman’s title celebrations at the Las Vegas Grand Prix that “It’s down to us to deliver and I’m sure that we’ll provide him a car that he can fight again for the championship next year.”

For the majority of this season, the Red Bull RB20 was not the car to deliver a title and Verstappen had to fight hard to clinch his fourth crown, a 10-race winless run between the Spanish and Sao Paulo GPs highlighting his issues.

Father Jos, who is a regular critic of Red Bull and its team boss Horner, also spoke of the need for things to improve at the Milton Keynes outfit.

Responding to 2025 title prospects on the official Max Verstappen website, Jos said “Nobody can answer that.

“Of course, we hope that he can, but he’s not in the fastest car, otherwise he would win all the races.

“Things have to improve to be competitive next year. The team knows what needs to change, so it’s up to them to get it together.”

Brazil GP sealed Verstappen the title

After a strong start to the 2024 campaign, which saw Red Bull carry over its 2023 dominance and win four of the first five races, Verstappen saw challengers emerge.

McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes started winning races aplenty from the Miami GP onwards.

Verstappen’s father explained that he wasn’t “always positive” that the title would be secured this year, but that all changed in Brazil when the Red Bull ace charged from 17th to first at a wet Interlagos circuit.

“We had a lead, but it all depended on the development of the car,” said Jos.

“I wasn’t always positive, but Max showed everyone what he’s made off, especially in Brazil.

“What he did there was unreal and really won him this title.” 

Jos’ pessimism carried over to the Las Vegas GP, which he watched early in the day from home amid a bout of flu.

“I was nervous, I woke up at four in the morning and couldn’t sleep”, he said.

“There is always that tension, but he did it. Maybe not in the way Max would’ve wanted it, but the main thing is that he did.

“I wasn’t feeling great; I had a bit of a flu. So I’d rather stay away so I don’t pass it on to Max.

“There’s also the time difference and I’m having to do some prep for a race myself.”

READ MORE – Red Bull ‘not confident’ about title prospects with 2025 F1 car

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