Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend hasn’t exactly been a smooth addition to the racing schedule. Actually, it probably couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start, even if the circuit is pretty cool.
For people in attendance, as well as the U.S. audience in general, the practice and race starting times in the middle of the night are less than ideal. And the start times, along with general cold weather in the desert in November, could create tire issues. That’s just baseline stuff.
The first practice Thursday night was a disaster and ended after just eight minutes. It was first delayed and then canceled after a loose drain cover caused major damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Investigating the track to figure out the issue seriously delayed the the start of the second practice session Friday morning until 2:30 a.m. local time, and the understandably furious fans who showed up to watch were ultimately removed from the grandstands.
While F1 had previously apologized to the people and city of Las Vegas for the disruptions, especially along the Vegas Strip, the race has caused, organizers still have yet to issue a public apology for all the chaos or offer any refunds.
But you know what F1 did do to demonstrate its regret? As a “thank you for your support,” it graciously issued a $200 voucher to the race’s official store to all single-day pass holders for Thursday.
Yikes.
And it certainly seems like three-time F1 champ Max Verstappen is on the side of the fans. According to Motorsport.com and Autosport, Verstappen’s response to learning about the $200 voucher was very clear:
“If I were a fan, I would tear the whole place down.”
$200 merchandise voucher offered to Thursday ticket holders
Max: “If I were a fan, I would tear the whole place down.” 😫😡#LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/WGgQBLEE2J
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) November 18, 2023
Yeah, fair enough for this disaster.
