F1 Las Vegas: A successful event despite harsh criticism

If you told someone this afternoon that Max Verstappen would be singing ‘Viva Las Vegas’ following his criticism this weekend of the event and exaggerated show which this race was, they would be as astounded as everyone who was watching was.

Max Verstappen celebrating victory via F1 / YouTube

That is all because the racing was genuinely fantastic and overtook all negative perception and opinion at the beginning of the weekend, particularly if you consider the disaster in the practice sessions.

Of course, the issues which transpired on Thursday deserve complete showcasing, because the fans with Friday tickets were harshly robbed and barely compensated. To pay for some, thousands of their hard earned cash on 10 minutes of racing to only be compensated $200 to use on merch is berserk and must be handled with better in the future.

The drain cover issue has to be viewed as unfortunate rather than disorganised. This has happened in Monaco and Sepang previously, and if this was not Las Vegas, where the pressure was on to deliver, there would not have been as great criticism and coverage on Friday.

Carlos Sainz was frankly brutally unlucky to have a ten-place grid penalty handed on his desk. While constructors ask for harsh rules, it was unsporting that the Ferrari driver had to serve a penalty for something which was utterly out of his hands and should require an inquiry to change the rules for special cases.

The showmanship was inevitable and at times overdone, particularly on Wednesday evening with the driver introductions. They were unnecessary, even if it was the first time back in Las Vegas for Formula 1.

Max Verstappen was brutally honest with the event, who clearly has complete focus of the event being completely racing-focused. His passionate press-conference speech was something which would twist the needle of their opinion on Verstappen, who is consistently honest and true to his beliefs, even if that upsets organisers, fans, or the sport.

Here is a fantastic Max Verstappen quote compilation from this weekend:

“It’s 99% show and only 1% sport. For me you can all skip these things. We are just standing up there, you look like a clown” (about the opening ceremony).

“Haha, well, give me a sheet of A4 paper. We’re not even going to talk about that…”. (on circuit).

“Yeah, not very interesting” (about the circuit).

“Monaco, I think is Champions League, this is (the) National League”.

“If I were a fan, I would tear the whole place down”. (about the FP1 & FP2 ticket compensation).

Verstappen’s strong-worded two-minute press conference speech on the event is well worth watching.

The circuit had criticisms, as did the cold temperatures, and rightfully so. But in all fairness, it delivered in fantastic fashion. It was reminiscent of Baku, where you are rewarded with sticking in the dirty air as the DRS on the strip invites plenty of overtakes, even if you are in an insignificant car to your opponent.

The track map looks to be boring but overtakes and unpredictability is the currency to a fascinating Formula 1 race, and one where the lead changes on track between three drivers on multiple occasions is exactly what is needed. Although Max Verstappen was punished and was still able to win, he had to work for it.

And as it turns out, even his opinion changed once the five lights went out in Nevada. He did not appear to be disappointed with the racing and ended up crediting the event. His opinion on the racing undoubtedly changed, but the world champion is resistant to fantasising the sport, which most fans can agree with.

There were also some superb comeback drives, as tire management created a range of strategies, with an argument being available for whether the one or two-stop was the quickest way to complete 50 laps today. Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon had particularly impressive drives, with the former coming from P19 to P5 and the latter from P16 to P4 to secure important points for both heading into the season finale.

It was not the smoothest weekend in Vegas but to have the world champion singing Elvis post-race is probably a suitable reflection on a race which had great criticism. There were lessons learnt from the organisers, but the racing was strong. The event has earned it’s place on the Formula 1 calendar.