2023-11-16 17:01:37
This weekend, Liberty Media is making its long-held ambition a reality: bringing Formula 1 to downtown Las Vegas, with a circuit including a two-kilometer section of the famous Strip. In line with this status as the capital of entertainment, F1 has pulled out all the stops for its own Superbowl, with an ambitious opening ceremony on Wednesday and numerous public relations events organized in the casinos.
Not all drivers necessarily like to go out of their way to satisfy the big bosses and sponsors of the Formula 1 circus, Max Verstappen having in particular declared following the opening ceremony : “For me, there’s no need to go to those things. I’m not talking about the singers, it’s just that you’re there and you look like a clown.”
Unlike the Dutchman, Alonso believes that F1’s enormous investment for this Grand Prix, which would exceed $500 million, with a circuit authorized to use the Strip, deserves an additional effort on the part of the drivers. “I have to say that places like this, with the investments that have been made and the place where we are racing, deserve a little different treatment and a little more spectacle, as we did today. I’m fine with doing more for this type of event.”estimates the pilot Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
And Charles Leclerc found the Wednesday schedule busy – “It’s a lot” – he sees it as an opportunity for F1 to attract a new audience: “I think if we don’t do it here, we don’t do it anywhere. When you come to a place like Vegas, when you go to a place like Miami, F1 has to take every opportunity. And if that means doing a little more spectacle around the race, it’s great. Maybe it will attract people who are not that interested in motorsport in the first place but who will be once they see the cars in real life “It can create new fans for F1 in the years to come, so what F1 has done so far, I think it’s great.”
The starting grid should be just as lively on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in France) with new ceremonies with great fanfare, but Leclerc warns: drivers must be able to concentrate on their race. At the Miami Grand Prix, the presentation of the drivers was not appreciated by the main stakeholders.
“There’s a limit that can’t be exceeded. Today is Wednesday, so it’s okay that there’s this opening ceremony and all that. But ten minutes before you get in the car, it’s there that we must be in our zone and not be disturbed by what is happening around the race. We must protect that. From the grid lap, we must be left alone, so that we can concentrate on the real race”concludes the Monegasque.
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