{"id":294314,"date":"2023-11-17T16:38:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=294314"},"modified":"2023-11-17T16:38:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:38:57","slug":"las-vegas-business-owners-hit-out-at-f1-as-race-weekend-impact-felt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/racing\/f1\/las-vegas-business-owners-hit-out-at-f1-as-race-weekend-impact-felt\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas business owners hit out at F1 as race weekend impact felt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The 2023 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix is having a detrimental effect on local businesses, a restaurant owner has claimed. The race has cost over half a billion pounds and nine months to put together – but it hasn’t stopped a number of issues from presenting themselves.<\/p>\n

Fans, who were hoping to catch a glimpse of cars on the street circuit on Thursday were treated to only a few laps of action before the first practice session was abandoned as a result of a loose manhole damaging Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Esteban Ocon’s Alpine. The second practice session didn’t start until 2:30am local time with no fans in attendance and it didn’t finish until after 4am.<\/p>\n

There has been a number of issues off the track surrounding the event’s construction and it appears to be hitting local business hard. The owner of Battista\u2019s Hole in the Wall, Randy Markin, says his business has lost hundreds of customers a night as a result of the F1 race and its exclusionary construction, which has made it difficult for visitors to navigate their way around the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have at least 100 cancellations every night. It\u2019s always the same line, people call up and say, \u2018I\u2019m really sorry, I can\u2019t get there. Cabs won\u2019t take us and car services won\u2019t take us,\u2019\u201d he told FOX5. Markin, who is also the General Manager of Stage Door Casino on Linq Lane, revealed the losses the Casino has taken in a short time. \u201cAt Stage Door, we\u2019re down a million and a half dollars in sales and that has really hurt my employees,\u201d said Markin.<\/p>\n

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Popular AYCE seafood buffet was also pictured dead, with zero lines and zero customers. “When they add up the economic benefits of F1, we trust they\u2019ll deduct losses at off-Strip casinos like Palms. Popular AYCE seafood buffet has zero customers, zero line. Bonus: Ask shows how many millions they\u2019re losing over the next few days,” a Las Vegas travel source page on X said.<\/p>\n

But despite the unmitigated disaster in 2023, Markin is hopeful F1 will iron out any issues ahead of next year’s event. Markin says F1 has to do better at integrating with the locals. “It’s really tough with F1 because they haven’t integrated with that type of personality into the community. I hope that by next year they do,” Markin concluded.<\/p>\n