18/10/2014
NEWS STORY
Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he is in discussions about hosting a Grand Prix on the streets of Las Vegas and the organisers of the race have told him they are "ready to go" according to an article in the Independent by Christian Sylt.
Since F1 returned to United States in 2012 after a five year absence it has been looking for a way to make an impact and break NASCAR's stranglehold on the American racing market. A race in Vegas would do just that.
The track would include The Strip, the famous road which runs through the city and is lined with casinos including the Bellagio and Caesars Palace. "Vegas say they are ready to go and it would be on the Strip for sure," says Ecclestone.
The plans are well beyond the tyre-kicking stage as a senior source in the US racing scene says that Ecclestone's track architect Hermann Tilke has visited Vegas several times to design the layout of the circuit. "Tilke has made a couple of site visits. I knew that if he had gone along there must be something to it," says the source.
F1 last raced in Vegas in 1982 on a track in the Caesars Palace car park which was not embraced by the sport due to its makeshift nature. A race on the streets of the city would have more permanence and would do a better job of showing off the local landmarks. Industry experts have already come out in support of it.
"Vegas would be a fantastic addition to the F1 calendar and would be successful for so many people involved," says F1 sponsorship agent Zak Brown. "It's a great fit for the F1 brand and would draw a lot of interest from sponsors in one of the most important strategic markets for F1 - America. Vegas as a city would benefit greatly from F1's fan base who no doubt would spend a lot of money that weekend."
It would also double the number of F1 races in the US. The only one currently on the calendar is the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, the capital of Texas. It is next up on this year's calendar and takes place on 2 November. Whilst the track has been well-received within the industry, it hasn't put F1 on the map in the US due to Austin's low profile within the country. The same certainly can't be said of Vegas.
"They like their entertainment in the States so you could probably double it to two races and it would be great, maybe not right next to each other in the calendar though," says former champion Damon Hill. "I would just hope they make it a great track. They have got to be challenging circuits. It's great to have them in city centres but not if they are too easy."
Although the race in Austin has fuelled a resurgence of interest in F1 in the US, it still has work to do. The sport's television audience in the US, where it is broadcast on NBC Sports, grew by 1.7m viewers to 11.4m in 2013 but it still trails the home-grown IndyCar series on the same network by 5%.
"Vegas would be a great place for a Grand Prix and it is one of only two cities in the States that does not have to worry about cannibalising a market, since every weekend is a big weekend with a different crowd. The other being New York," says Tavo Hellmund who founded the Circuit of the Americas and the US Grand Prix in Austin. He is now bringing F1 back to Mexico City where it will race next year after a 23-year absence. Las Vegas may join it but a Grand Prix in the New York area seems less likely.
A race on 3.2-miles of public roads in New Jersey was announced with great fanfare in October 2011 but has since been dropped from the F1 calendar twice. As Pitpass revealed, the hurdle is that the organisers have failed to raise the £60m required to finish work on the track.
"In the end there's a million countries that would like to have an F1 race but they can't afford it," says Ecclestone. He adds that the sport is on track to have more races than ever regardless as the return of the Mexican Grand Prix next year will push the calendar to its current record of 20. In 2016 the Grand Prix of Europe in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, will be added to it and Ecclestone says "it's more likely that it will go over 20 with Baku than we lose a race."