{"id":294205,"date":"2023-11-16T17:09:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T17:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=294205"},"modified":"2023-11-16T17:09:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T17:09:15","slug":"las-vegas-gp-diary-as-ex-team-principal-leaves-fans-gobsmacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/racing\/f1\/las-vegas-gp-diary-as-ex-team-principal-leaves-fans-gobsmacked\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas GP diary as ex-team principal leaves fans gobsmacked"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Red Bull sponsors PokerStars have taken Express Sport behind the scenes as Las Vegas promises to put on the biggest show F1 has ever seen. The entire Boulevard strip has been shut down with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton set to race down the icon stretch on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

I start my trip departing from Heathrow Terminal Three on Wednesday afternoon and from the start, it was clear there was an F1 race on the horizon. The McLaren papaya t-shirts and caps caught the eye throughout the airport more than most, but there were plenty of supporters floating around in Mercedes and Red Bull attire too. There was also the odd Ferrari cap, but much less than their rivals.<\/p>\n

Supporters onboard the flight were left gobsmacked when former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer took his seat in the economy carriage. You could hear the muttering as the news travelled all the way back. The 59-year-old would usually have been housed in the exclusive business class section but perhaps even he was priced out on this occasion, having been out of work since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.<\/p>\n

One Spanish TV executive, who was catching a connective flight from London, told Express Sport how paddock passes he is usually easily able to sell for \u20ac7,000-\u20ac8,000 (\u00a36,000-\u00a37,000) had been hiked up to \u20ac30,000 (\u00a326,200) for the full weekend. Only in the last few days had he been able to shift the final tickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Vegas has spent far more than \u00a3500million preparing the city for the sport that struggled to get off the ground in America until recent years. Nevada had twice hosted an F1 race before, but not in the last 40 years. Now, this will be the third race Stateside in 2023, following events in Miami and Austin.<\/p>\n

A lot has changed in Vegas over the past 12 months. My taxi driver, who had driven these roads for well over 20 years, could not stress enough how many new bridges had been popping up in anticipation of the congestion. And they were built much quicker than any other construction in the area, too.<\/p>\n

A usual 15-minute drive to our hotel takes 25 minutes. A quick dash to get changed and then I attempted to make it to the Red Bull Grand Prix welcoming party, courtesy of PokerStars. This proved to be a more difficult task than I imagined.<\/p>\n