Formula 1 Adds Las Vegas Grand Prix to 2023 Calendar

Formula 1 has announced the addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to the calendar from 2023 onwards. The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place in November 2023.

Formula 1 will be heading to Las Vegas next year, with the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix confirmed to be taking place in November 2023. The race will be held on a Saturday night, on a street circuit which navigates part of the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s famous stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South which is famed for its hotels and casinos.

Image via F1

The 6.12km circuit will utilise a mile of the Las Vegas Strip, between Wynn Las Vegas and The Cosmopolitan with the drivers passing by the Bellagio’s famous fountains. Featuring 14 turns and reaching top speeds of up to 342km/h, the circuit will also pass Caesars Palace, the parking lot of which hosted F1’s last visit to Las Vegas in the early 1980s. Unlike other races on the calendar, Formula 1 and Liberty Media will promote the race themselves in partnership with Live Nation Entertainment and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). 

Rumours of the new race first emerged in late 2021, though plans for a race in Las Vegas go back much further than that. The title “Las Vegas Grand Prix” was trademarked by Formula 1 in November 2017. Interestingly, this was the same time that both “Miami Grand Prix” and “New York Grand Prix” were also trademarked by F1. Of the three, New York is the only destination city yet to be added to the schedule.

Last time in Las Vegas

The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix will not be F1’s first visit to Nevada. The sport visited Las Vegas in 1981 and 1982, with the Caesars Palace Grand Prix hosting the season-closing race on both occasions.

The Caesars Palace Grand Prix took place on a temporary circuit in the parking lot of the famous Caesars Palace hotel. Alan Jones and Michele Alboreto were the drivers who won the race, in 1981 and 1982 respectively, while Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg secured World Championship victories at the two races. The event proved not to be a hit with fans, attracting low spectator numbers, while drivers struggled with the desert heat and the anti-clockwise layout.

F1’s return to Las Vegas has been rumoured on multiple occasions in the past. In 1995, the Indianapolis 500 race program promoted a new street circuit along The Strip which never came to fruition.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix joins the F1 calendar on an initial three-year deal but hopes are high that the event could become the sport’s flagship event during that timescale. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says there is “no better place” for the sport to visit:

“This is an incredible moment for Formula 1 that demonstrates the huge appeal and growth of our sport with a third race in the US. Las Vegas is a destination known around the world for its excitement, hospitality, thrills, and of course, the famous Strip. There is no better place for Formula 1 to race than in the global entertainment capital of the world and we cannot wait to be here next year. I want to thank everyone who helped deliver this event, especially Governor Sisolak, the Clark County Commission, Steve Hill at the LVCVA, and our local partners.”

How to attend the Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023

Tickets and packages are not yet on sale for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, but the organizers have stated that ‘general admission tickets, grandstand and luxury seating, and hospitality packages will be available.’ Travel and hotel packages will also be available. The best thing to do right now is to sign up for mailing lists so that you will be amongst the first to know when tickets and packages go on sale.

Three F1 races in the United States from 2023

The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be one of three races in the United States on next year’s Formula 1 calendar. Circuit of The Americas has hosted the United States Grand Prix since 2012. The Texas circuit, located near Austin, recently signed a new contract to remain on the schedule until at least 2026. Meanwhile, the inaugural Miami Grand Prix is just weeks away. The first race around Miami International Autodrome, which runs around the Hard Rock Stadium, is scheduled to take place on May 6-8.

Formula 1 has enjoyed a new level of popularity in America in recent years. Aided by the success of Netflix series Drive to Survive, viewership of F1 races is at an all-time high while last year’s United States Grand Prix had a record weekend attendance of 400,000. The 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix attracted 1.445 million viewers on ESPN; the channel’s largest F1 viewing figure since taking on broadcasting rights in 2018 and the second-largest figure on record.

More calendar changes to come?

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently said that the calendar could expand to 30 races, such is the current interest level in the sport. The regulations currently cap the maximum number of races per year at 25.

The addition of new races may come at the expense of existing events. Races in Monaco, France, Belgium and Mexico will all need to negotiate new contracts if they are to remain on the calendar beyond 2022.

Are you happy to see Las Vegas join the Formula 1 calendar? Leave a comment below!