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F1 Las Vegas Race

BRETTPSU

Well-Known Member
Sep 18, 2002
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My 17 year old son is a big F1 fan and with them coming to Vegas in November of 2023 I was thinking about taking him to the race. Any of you guys do a F1 race? What can I expect cost to be....2x, 3x, 10x normal weekend Vegas pricing? If we can get tickets are there areas of the track that would be better for watching? I'm assuming the long straight away of the strip will be the best. Any other tips for this F1 newbie?
 
I havent been to a race yet. I was looking into going to Canada before Covid. Now we have Miami, Texas, and Vegas. Although we might be losing Texas? I think their contract is up. Not sure on that one.

Miami and Vegas are new. Miami is starting this year and Vegas next year.

You can get on the F1 website and see the track layout, where the seats are, and prices. I just looked and not much of the 2023 calendar is out. Keep checking. I can't remember when the schedule comes out.
 
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I started attending GP's back in the late seventies at the Glen. Then Canada, then Detroit, then back to Montreal. It might be the most expensive sports ticket around nowadays but its a three day pass and a festival like atmosphere. You have to do it at least once in you life. Memorable. Vegas at night should be awesome over Thanksgiving weekend next year. Book it!
 
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I havent been to a race yet. I was looking into going to Canada before Covid. Now we have Miami, Texas, and Vegas. Although we might be losing Texas? I think their contract is up. Not sure on that one.

Miami and Vegas are new. Miami is starting this year and Vegas next year.

You can get on the F1 website and see the track layout, where the seats are, and prices. I just looked and not much of the 2023 calendar is out. Keep checking. I can't remember when the schedule comes out.
I really hope they keep COTA on the schedule. I’m a big fan of that track and the racking has always been good there. I know cash is king and the Vegas layout looks really promising, but if they need to drop one American race it should either be Vegas or Miami. Street circuits, outside of Jeddah and Baku have generally pretty limited in passing opportunities.
 
I really hope they keep COTA on the schedule. I’m a big fan of that track and the racking has always been good there. I know cash is king and the Vegas layout looks really promising, but if they need to drop one American race it should either be Vegas or Miami. Street circuits, outside of Jeddah and Baku have generally pretty limited in passing opportunities.
It would be really great if they kept all 3 in the US. Just a gut feeling but I think some races might not return due to Covid and whatever other issues. They seem to like keeping the amount of races in the low 20's. Who knows.

You're right that most street circuits are follow the leader. I hope that Miami and Vegas are different. That might mean the difference between them remaining or getting replaced.
 
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My 17 year old son is a big F1 fan and with them coming to Vegas in November of 2023 I was thinking about taking him to the race. Any of you guys do a F1 race? What can I expect cost to be....2x, 3x, 10x normal weekend Vegas pricing? If we can get tickets are there areas of the track that would be better for watching? I'm assuming the long straight away of the strip will be the best. Any other tips for this F1 newbie?

Not a big F1 fan but used to live in Austin and went to a few at COTA. Personally I find the straights boring. Not familiar with the track layout in Vegas but I'd try and find a more technical section of the course. More interesting stuff than watching cars go fast in a straight line.
 
Not a big F1 fan but used to live in Austin and went to a few at COTA. Personally I find the straights boring. Not familiar with the track layout in Vegas but I'd try and find a more technical section of the course. More interesting stuff than watching cars go fast in a straight line.
I agree with that. I would pick a heavy braking zone or even one of the fast or medium speed turns.

Since F1 races are rarely in doubt at the finish line, I would avoid the start finish line. The race start, pit stops and end of race celebration would be good. But most of the race would be relatively boring.

At least at COTA, you can watch previous races to see where the action happens and pick your seats accordingly.

The F1 website has (or at least had) video clips of what you can expect to see from any particular section as cars go by.
 
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I've never been to an F-1 but I had to be in Austin during the first F-1 race there. I used to stay at the Renaissance hotel at the Arboretum (far north of the city). I had four business clients and me there. I made the reservation. Rooms were normally $189 for our corporate rate but they. waived the rate for that weekend (plus Austin City Limits and SXSW). The rooms were $389. When we got there, people hadn't checked out so we had no rooms. Since I stayed there often, I got the manager to find us rooms there (I don't know how, I understand they keep a set of reserved rooms they don't book through Marriot and get the premium fee by not having to pay Marriott as most are just franchises).

The vast majority of fans were Euros or Mexican. They'd all be stamped with a Ferrari or McClaren hat/cloths or whatever. There was A LOT of money being thrown around. Tickets were going for $500 or so by resellers.

My only advice is to make your hotel reservation early unless you don't care how much you spend.
 
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I've never been to an F-1 but I had to be in Austin during the first F-1 race there. I used to stay at the Renaissance hotel at the Arboretum (far north of the city). I had four business clients and me there. I made the reservation. Rooms were normally $189 for our corporate rate but they. waived the rate for that weekend (plus Austin City Limits and SXSW). The rooms were $389. When we got there, people hadn't checked out so we had no rooms. Since I stayed there often, I got the manager to find us rooms there (I don't know how, I understand they keep a set of reserved rooms they don't book through Marriot and get the premium fee by not having to pay Marriott as most are just franchises).

The vast majority of fans were Euros or Mexican. They'd all be stamped with a Ferrari or McClaren hat/cloths or whatever. There was A LOT of money being thrown around. Tickets were going for $500 or so by resellers.

My only advice is to make your hotel reservation early unless you don't care how much you spend.

Las Vegas has almost 6x the number of hotel rooms that Austin does so not sure I'd expect similar rate increases/room shortages It's an events town.
 
I was really curious how much over regular rate to expect. Thanks Obli
I suspect prices are set by supply and demand with some digital AI thrown in. If rooms are booked more than usual, prices go up. If not, they go down. I've seen airline flights seem to drop up until 2 weeks before the trip and then begin to go up.

As an aside, I was introduced to the notion of "dress sneakers" by my young counterparts who wear high end sneakers with business suits now. So I got an ad from Nike on my twitter feed and clicked on it. $175. No way I pay $175 for sneakers no matter how good they look. I am 100% sure Nike knew I looked and didn't buy. Over the next several days, I kept getting the ad and clicking on it. $175..$150...$135...$110...finally, I got down to $75 and I bought them. I suspect this was all computer-driven AI. As a buyer, fight the impulse. The risk is that they sell out. But with any good negotiation, you've got to be prepared to lose out. I guess the point is that computers with AI are making all of this minute-by-minute pricing based on supply/demand and consumer behaviors in the moment.
 
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I think the Strip is part of the track layout. There's an outside dining area in front of Paris that would be a perfect spot. It sits up from the sidewalk, so you could see over any people that might be watching from street level.
 
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Just looked at the circuit. Not sure how or where seating is being erected but turns 11/13 would probably be my first choice of location, with turn 13 facing down the oncoming straight being first choice and 11 being second. Seating on turn 12 could be problematic depending which direction you're facing.

Turns 2/3/4 would be my second choice.
 
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I think the Strip is part of the track layout. There's an outside dining area in front of Paris that would be a perfect spot. It sits up from the sidewalk, so you could see over any people that might be watching from street level.
We ate at that restaurant a couple years ago. Hoping they do some sort of package deal with a meal, drinks and watch the race. I wonder if it would be high enough to see over any barriers they have placed. And they may have grandstands there as well.
 
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Las Vegas has almost 6x the number of hotel rooms that Austin does so not sure I'd expect similar rate increases/room shortages It's an events town.
Not 100% sure that’ll be the case. Sure there’s more places to stay, but turnout for F1 has grown substantially since DTS. The Australian GP had 500k spectators over the weekend (including FP sessions). Mix the F1 crowd with the normal Vegas crowd now another year removed from the height of the pandemic and it’ll be crazy expensive.
 
Just looked at the circuit. Not sure how or where seating is being erected but turns 11/13 would probably be my first choice of location, with turn 13 facing down the oncoming straight being first choice and 11 being second. Seating on turn 12 could be problematic depending which direction you're facing.

Turns 2/3/4 would be my second choice.
Turn 5 could be interesting as well with a 90 degree turn after the straight coming off of 4.
 
Turn 5 could be interesting as well with a 90 degree turn after the straight coming off of 4.
If you’re sitting outside the apex it could be great. Inside the apex you’re only going to see a small section of the track. Problem with being outside is that your back is to the strip.

my brother in law is a huge fan so now it looks like we are going
 
My 17 year old son is a big F1 fan and with them coming to Vegas in November of 2023 I was thinking about taking him to the race. Any of you guys do a F1 race? What can I expect cost to be....2x, 3x, 10x normal weekend Vegas pricing? If we can get tickets are there areas of the track that would be better for watching? I'm assuming the long straight away of the strip will be the best. Any other tips for this F1 newbie?
Bring ear plugs/noise cancelling headphones, etc . The engine whine is incredibly loud.

It’s a great time, though. Lots of hot women in an F1 crowd, too.
 
Best spots are high speed breaking zones.

The entry at the boot was fantastic at the glen. Heavy breaking and then hard on the throttle midway thru the turn. Gilles Villeneuve was a master in that area. Tail wagging the whole way through especially in the wet.

In Detroit the best section was under the tram track at Cobo Hall. Senna was incredibly quick coming through that section and so was Bellof. Always drifting. Ah we so missed out on Bellof who was the next great German before there was MSchumacher.

At Montreal the best spot is still the hairpin. High speed entry down to 30 mph, heavy braking and then hard on the throttle as they head down the straight away. Always action at that section. They shortened it after Kubica’s terrible barrel roll accident in 2007. Still don’t know how he survived that.
 
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Not 100% sure that’ll be the case. Sure there’s more places to stay, but turnout for F1 has grown substantially since DTS. The Australian GP had 500k spectators over the weekend (including FP sessions). Mix the F1 crowd with the normal Vegas crowd now another year removed from the height of the pandemic and it’ll be crazy expensive.



I’m sure it’ll cost more than an average weekend but I don’t think you’ll see the scarcity issue Austin had precovid. Miami looks like a mixed bag in terms of rate increases (depending on where you look) for the race next month but plenty of rooms are available after a quick check of Travelocity. Miami-dade county has 58,000 hotel rooms. So more than double Austin (26,000) but over 90,000 fewer than Vegas (150,000).
 
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