Formula One owners have made $500million ‘Drive to Survive’ gamble on Las Vegas Grand Prix – but it could be huge flop

FORMULA ONE owners Liberty Media will get to discover if their huge gamble on Las Vegas will come off in this weekend’s Grand Prix.

They have spent around $500million, or £400m, converting the famous strip into a race track and building a new paddock in the heart of Sin City.

SplashStands going up for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in front of the iconic Bellagio hotel[/caption]

Liberty hope to cash in on the sport’s popularity in the US, driven by the Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ TV series.

However, rather than hitting the jackpot, there are serious concerns the race, which is Saturday night Las Vegas time but Sunday morning in the UK, will be a massive flop with hundreds of seats and hotel rooms left unsold.

There are also complaints from locals who are upset about the impact F1 is having on the city, with a number of its famous landmarks obscured from view by the temporary grandstands.

Would they be happy with the same process each year when the race comes around causing mass disturbance? I doubt it.

Ticket sales too have been slow with many reluctant to spend the ridiculous sums being suggested.

CNN reported that ticket website TickPick had seen prices slashed, although the average price for Saturday’s race is still an eye-watering $1,060 for grandstand seats.

It is the same story for the unsold hotel rooms – but do F1’s owners really care about the paying fans? In part they do, however, like other US sports the main focus is on the TV audience.

The race is on Saturday at 10pm local time, later than they would have hoped, for the majority of the East coast will be asleep by then.

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That said, it will still be a spectacle under the lights as the F1 cars race past the iconic buildings and landmarks.

It is perhaps best not to think of it as a race, but like the Miami GP earlier in the season, an F1 tradeshow.

An event that is more like the heavily edited Netflix offering than the Max Verstappen domination we have been watching all season.

Rather like the punters who will still continue to play in the city’s famous casinos, it could be a case of all-in or bust for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

GettyThe Las Vegas Grand Prix is a big gamble trying to cash in on F1’s US popularity[/caption]

SHIVER, LAS VEGAS

TEMPERATURES could drop as low as 5°C in the evening in Vegas when the race starts.

That would set a joint-lowest record with the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix, which is currently the coldest ever F1 race held — which had a peak temperature of just 5°C.

The track itself is the second-longest on the calendar after Spa, and promises to be the second-fastest after Monza, with a top speed estimated at 212 mph.

DRIVE TO, ER, SURVIVE

THE “Netflix Cup” will kick-off on Tuesday with F1 stars playing a golf competition alongside some PGA professionals.

It marks the streaming service’s first live sport broadcast as it tries to fuse together Drive To Survive with similar golf documentary, Full Swing.

MOTOVATION

MOTO GP’s championship looks set to go down to the wire with reigning champ Francesco Bagnaia and Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin separated by just 14 points with two races to go.

Meanwhile, former champion Fabio Quartararo accused the stewards of “choosing people they don’t like” after he was fined €1,000 for undoing his helmet strap as he arrived in the pitlane during practice.

Francesco Bagnaia (centre) is vying for the Moto GP titleRex

“The stewards are not doing their job,” Quartararo told TNT Sports. “I think they [give] penalties by closing their eyes and choosing the people that they don’t like. That’s me.

“I did it [untie my helmet strap] a lot of times. All the years I was doing it.

“And just yesterday they gave me a fine. So I don’t think they are doing their job properly.”