Blue state Las Vegas' biggest event in years was a disaster

[blue state disasters]

Democrats can screw up anything!

For months, Las Vegas has been reconfiguring the city to accommodate the
Formula 1 race that took over its famous Strip. But, realizing the fears
of locals, the event turned into a disaster over the weekend.

From financial disappointments to hazards on the track itself, the Las
Vegas Grand Prix fell far short of its spectacular billing. When the event
was announced last year, prices for hotel rooms and race tickets during
the week of November 13 skyrocketed, but by earlier this week, one
reporter was able to book a hotel room at the Flamingo for just $18.
Similarly, prices to view the F1 practices, qualifying and Saturday
night's race nosedived.

"Tickets for Thursday’s practice sessions were selling for around $100 on
Wednesday night and tickets for Friday’s qualifying were going for around
$250 on the secondary market. Both events were selling for around $1,000
originally," The Messenger's Arash Markazi reported. "A ticket to
Saturday’s race is still over $800 but they were over $1,600 just last
month."

For some fans, they didn't even get to see what they paid for. On Thursday
night, practice got off to a disastrous start when Ferrari driver Carlos
Sainz went over an improperly secured drain cover, damaging the engine of
his car. Despite the fact the problem was no fault of his own, Sainz was
hit with a 10-place grid penalty when Ferrari had to replace his damaged
car parts. Practice was halted to determine if more spots on the street
circuit were hazardous and, by the time the next practice started, 2 1/2
hours late at 2:30 a.m. Friday, those in attendance had been ordered to
leave fan viewing areas. F1 ran a 90-minute session until 4 a.m.. when
preparations had to begin to re-open the streets to morning commuter
traffic.

F1 President Stefano Domenicali and Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand
Prix, issued a a joint statement Friday night to explain the debacle
because “this is important for those who are new to racing to understand.”
The statement did not offer an apology for Thursday night. A second
statement from the LVGP offered a $200 credit to Thursday-only ticket
holders — most sales have been three-day packages — to be spent at the
official merchandise store. The gestures only further angered fans already
feeling ripped off. Some have now filed a class-action suit against the
Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The glitz and glamor promised by the race organizers even found derision
among drivers. Race winner Max Verstappen eye-rolled his way through the
opening ceremony, calling the race "99% show, 1% sporting event."

“For me, you can skip this,” he said. “It’s not about the singers. We are
just standing up there, looking like a clown.”

All weekend, drivers also complained about low grip on the slick track.
Unlike a circuit purpose-built for Formula 1, the streets of Las Vegas
were repurposed for the race — a process that created less-than-ideal
racing conditions and a traffic nightmare for locals. Since April,
repaving and road closures have been a way of life for Vegas residents and
workers; the problem is so bad, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that
"snarled traffic ... exasperated many residents to the point the head of
F1’s parent company apologized." It will take weeks to undo the F1
configuration, with officials hoping that things to return to normal by
Christmas.

But this is only the beginning of F1 in Vegas. The sport signed a 10-year
deal to bring the annual race there through 2032.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/vegas-formula-1-disaster-18502043.php

[Sir Tim]

Post by blue state disasters

Democrats can screw up anything!

For months, Las Vegas has been reconfiguring the city to accommodate the
Formula 1 race that took over its famous Strip. But, realizing the fears
of locals, the event turned into a disaster over the weekend.
From financial disappointments to hazards on the track itself, the Las
Vegas Grand Prix fell far short of its spectacular billing. When the event
was announced last year, prices for hotel rooms and race tickets during
the week of November 13 skyrocketed, but by earlier this week, one
reporter was able to book a hotel room at the Flamingo for just $18.
Similarly, prices to view the F1 practices, qualifying and Saturday
night's race nosedived.
"Tickets for Thursday’s practice sessions were selling for around $100 on
Wednesday night and tickets for Friday’s qualifying were going for around
$250 on the secondary market. Both events were selling for around $1,000
originally," The Messenger's Arash Markazi reported. "A ticket to
Saturday’s race is still over $800 but they were over $1,600 just last
month."
For some fans, they didn't even get to see what they paid for. On Thursday
night, practice got off to a disastrous start when Ferrari driver Carlos
Sainz went over an improperly secured drain cover, damaging the engine of
his car. Despite the fact the problem was no fault of his own, Sainz was
hit with a 10-place grid penalty when Ferrari had to replace his damaged
car parts. Practice was halted to determine if more spots on the street
circuit were hazardous and, by the time the next practice started, 2 1/2
hours late at 2:30 a.m. Friday, those in attendance had been ordered to
leave fan viewing areas. F1 ran a 90-minute session until 4 a.m.. when
preparations had to begin to re-open the streets to morning commuter
traffic.
F1 President Stefano Domenicali and Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand
Prix, issued a a joint statement Friday night to explain the debacle
because “this is important for those who are new to racing to understand.”
The statement did not offer an apology for Thursday night. A second
statement from the LVGP offered a $200 credit to Thursday-only ticket
holders — most sales have been three-day packages — to be spent at the
official merchandise store. The gestures only further angered fans already
feeling ripped off. Some have now filed a class-action suit against the
Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The glitz and glamor promised by the race organizers even found derision
among drivers. Race winner Max Verstappen eye-rolled his way through the
opening ceremony, calling the race "99% show, 1% sporting event."
“For me, you can skip this,” he said. “It’s not about the singers. We are
just standing up there, looking like a clown.”
All weekend, drivers also complained about low grip on the slick track.
Unlike a circuit purpose-built for Formula 1, the streets of Las Vegas
were repurposed for the race — a process that created less-than-ideal
racing conditions and a traffic nightmare for locals. Since April,
repaving and road closures have been a way of life for Vegas residents and
workers; the problem is so bad, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that
"snarled traffic ... exasperated many residents to the point the head of
F1’s parent company apologized." It will take weeks to undo the F1
configuration, with officials hoping that things to return to normal by
Christmas.
But this is only the beginning of F1 in Vegas. The sport signed a 10-year
deal to bring the annual race there through 2032.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/vegas-formula-1-disaster-18502043.php

The naysayers are still desperately looking for reasons to denigrate the
event but, despite all the negativity, it has clearly been a great success.
The track proved much better than anyone expected; many fans think that the
race was the best of the season and some 315,000 of them attended the race.
Brits may have found the presentation a bit “over-the-top”, but the whole
point of Vegas is surely that it is *wildly* “over-the-top”.
Obviously the major downside was the fact that fans who had paid to watch
P1 were not able to do so and were not offered a proper refund but no doubt
lessons will have been learnt.
All in all the fact that the whole event was so successful and was created
within such a short time frame is a tribute to the American genius for
getting things done.

https://www.ktnv.com/news/vegas-grand-prix/las-vegas-grand-prix-ceo-boasts-attendance-of-315k-claims-race-will-have-1-2b-economic-impact