F1 made its return to Las Vegas for the first time in over 40 years

F1 made its return to Las Vegas for the first time in over 40 years, the entire city was taken over by the sport. The Las Vegas Grand Prix transformed the famous Strip into a high-speed circuit with the F1 race cars weaving through the heart of Sin City’s renowned landmarks. Max Verstappen was the winner at this year’s Grand Prix making it his 18th Grand Prix win. 

It’s been estimated that the economic impact of the Las Vegas Grand Prix will make the city $1.2 Billion, which is the largest sporting event ever seen in the city, more than double what the Super Bowl brought to Vegas back in February. The vision for the Las Vegas Grand Prix was born after Liberty Media completed its purchase of Formula 1 in 2017, intending to increase the global reach of the motorsport series.

As part of increasing Formula 1’s global reach, A$AP Rocky was brought in last month as the Creative Director for the Puma x F1 partnership where PUMA will become the exclusive licensee and trackside retailer at all races.The integration of A$AP Rocky into the Grand Prix not only adds a cultural value but adds a fresh new perspective to the sport which will attract a younger and more diverse audience. 

He launched the first PUMA x F1 collection this weekend with a special pop-up in Las Vegas where his girlfriend Rihanna was in attendance. In 2024, Rocky will focus his creative attention on several Grand Prix races beginning in Miami. These collections have been conceptualized and designed by him in partnership with the PUMA and F1 teams. He will curate activations at each of the races and serve as the creative director for all of the marketing efforts surrounding these collections.

The weekend wasn’t without any errors. From transforming infrastructure, navigating local politics, and making fans happy; the arrival of F1 in Las Vegas has been no small feat. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz drove over a loose drain cover during practice, badly damaging his car and canceling the practice altogether. Fans, who purchased tickets to watch practice sessions, were told to leave the practice an hour before it finished and missed the second session which took place eventually at 2:30 am local time. This resulted in a class action lawsuit being filed on behalf of 35,00 fans who paid thousands of dollars to watch F1’s return to Vegas and only got eight minutes. 

Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” F1 documentary series has played a significant role in the sport’s rising popularity in the states and is directly attributed to the rising number of American F1 fans. There were 315,000 fans from all over the world in attendance last weekend. There are still accessibility issues for the average F1 fan, most won’t be able to afford a ticket to watch a Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Miami, or Monaco, but things such as F1 merchandise designed by A$AP Rocky, or their new activation space in St Paul’s, London serves as a great low hanging fruit for any type of F1 fan.

By- Subomi