The Las Vegas Grand Prix will run until at least 2037 under a fresh decade-long contract announced this week.
The race, which takes in much of the Las Vegas Boulevard — the famous Las Vegas Strip — first joined the sport in 2023, meaning it will have run for 15 seasons before facing its next renewal.
The deal guarantees that the United States will host three grands prix until at least 2034, when the contract for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, will next expire. The Miami Grand Prix signed a long-term deal last season that will see it continue until at least the end of 2041.
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The extension of the Las Vegas contract was always likely, with Formula 1 shelling out its own money as promoter of the event rather than extracting a sanctioning fee from local organisers.
The first race in 2023 cost more than half a billion dollars to set up, but that included the acquisition of land for the construction of a massive permanent pit building, giving the sport a year-round presence in the city.
Local government officials had also already agreed to make the street available for the race into the next decade, having seen the grad transform its least lucrative weekend — the weekend before Thanksgiving — into one of its biggest money spinners.
“We are thrilled that Formula 1 will continue racing in Las Vegas for many years to come,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said. “Since its debut in 2023, the event has been extraordinary, rapidly establishing itself as a premier destination for great racing, world-class entertainment, global business leaders, A-list celebrities and influencers.
“It has delivered a strong and lasting impact on the local economy and community. We always believed that Las Vegas would become a cornerstone of our presence in the United States, and this extension, together with the success of recent years, reinforces our long-term commitment to this important market.”
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Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president Steven Hill said the extension was a “major moment” for the city.
“In just three years the race has become a signature global event, putting Las Vegas at the centre of culture, competition and entertainment during race week.
“As the spotlight of the world turns to Las Vegas, the event continues to reinforce our evolution as a premier sports and entertainment destination. Built for spectacle and designed to host the world’s biggest moments, Las Vegas is proud to continue this dynamic partnership with Formula 1 for the next decade and beyond.”
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LECLERC HAD OTHER OFFERS BEFORE FERRARI RENEWAL
Charles Leclerc says he turned down offers from other Formula 1 teams before recommitting to Ferrari for the foreseeable future.
Ferrari announced on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix that Leclerc had signed a contract extension “for the coming seasons”. His previous deal reportedly already ran to 2029, suggesting he will remain at Maranello into the 2030s.
His new commitment comes despite Ferrari starting the new rules era a step behind Mercedes and with a steep mountain to climb to fight for this year’s championship — and despite Leclerc having suggested last year that a title challenge could be make or break for his future with the team.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his home grand prix this weekend, the Monegasque said he even had offers from rival teams that could have seen him defect from the Scuderia.
“There were [other options], yes,” he said, but added: “I’m not going to say who, but they can say it if they want.
“But for me, Ferrari was always the choice.”
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Leclerc said that team boss Frédéric Vasseur was integral to his decision to recommit to the team.
“Mostly Fred,” he said. “I’m very on board with his vision, and I really believe in Fred.
“Obviously it’s the first car that he projected together with the team. Obviously we are seeing lots of innovation on our car, and we have a long-term vision — not too long, because obviously we all want to win as quickly as possible, but as soon as possible to be back on top.
“I’m on board with this vision and I believe in this vision, so that’s what makes me believe about this project more than ever.
“We know where we are lacking, and that’s probably more the engine side. We’ve got a plan coming up, and hopefully it will help us to get back to where we want to be.
“But why [re-sign now]? It’s because I love this team and because I believe in the project, and for these two reasons, that’s why we continue together.”
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F1’S PROBLEM TEAM BRACED FOR PAIN
Fernando Alonso says his troubled Aston Martin team will be unable to race in the Monaco Grand Prix unless it can fix a long-running gearbox problem he says could fire him into the walls at random.
Aston Martin is last and scoreless in the constructors championship after a dire start to the season, its first with works engine supplier Honda.
However, though the underpowered and unreliable Honda engine absorbed much of the early spotlight, it has become increasingly clear that the Aston Martin car is at least equally to blame for the team’s woeful form.
Alonso, who retired from the previous race in Canada owing to the car’s unusually low-slung seating position, says a persistent downshift problem with the gearbox has become the team’s biggest issue and could bite painfully hard this weekend.
The two-time Monaco winner explained that the gearbox — the team’s first in-house design in decades — sometimes selects gears at random on downshifts, causing instability that could be dangerous in the tight confines of the Monte Carlo circuit.
“Monaco is not the place to have a random downshift, and you have rear [brake] locking or [engine] pushing or something like that, then you will crash into the wall and the driver will look stupid,” he said, per The Race.
“We are passengers sometimes when you put one gear down and you have push from the engine, like going on full throttle.
“If you have the downshift problem like we had in Miami, probably we cannot even race, because we will crash in one of the braking points due to a very different downshift type.
“If we have reliability issues like at the beginning of the year, that [meant that] we completed eight, 12 laps or something like that, then it doesn’t change much to be in Monaco, so we need to put everything together.
“It’s what we’ve been working on the last two weeks since Canada, because we know that it’s an important weekend and we are paying a lot of attention to this weekend and all the details.”
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The Monaco Grand Prix weekend will see the return of team principal Adrian Newey to the paddock for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix, where he repeatedly threw Honda under the bus for its troubled pre-season campaign and contended that the car on its own should be a top-five performer, guessing it was around 0.75 seconds behind the frontrunners.
So far the team has been on average 3.384 seconds off the pace in qualifying. It has a best finish of 15th and got both cars to the finish just once, in Miami.
Newey said last year that he took up the team principal role alongside his position as managing technical partner because he would be “doing all the early races anyway”, though the team said earlier this season that, actually, he would spend more time at the factory instead.
The team says it will not bring any significant performance upgrades to its car until the middle of the year, with its focus instead on troubleshooting its significant mechanical and engine problems.
Former Audi principal Jonathan Wheatley is rumoured to be in line to relieve Newey of his team principal duties after splitting from the German marque suddenly in March, but no announcement has yet been made.
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BOTTAS CALLS ‘BULLSHIT’ ON AXE RUMOURS
Valtteri Bottas has become the second driver in as many races to deny “bullshit” claim that his seat is under threat despite the Finn being just five rounds into a two-year contract with debutant team Cadillac.
Bottas and Sergio Pérez were hired by the American brand for their race-winning experience, which the team hopes will help accelerate its progress from the back of the pack.
Though direct comparisons between the two drivers have been difficult given the team is adrift at the back and given operational issues have muddied the waters, Pérez has emerged as the early leader, looking quicker in qualifying and sharper in the races.
The gap between them was particularly unflattering in Canada, where Pérez was around 0.85 seconds quicker in qualifying for both the sprint and the grand prix.
Those results sparked improbable online speculation that Bottas could be on the chopping block as soon as this year, with some linking development driver Colton Herta to the seat despite the American Formula 2 rookie not yet having the superlicence points required to race in Formula 1.
Bottas rubbished the rumours ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
“It’s not the first time I faced those kinds of rumours,” he said, per the F1 website. “It’s a bit of a shame that somebody just makes up complete bullshit, but that’s normal in this sport.
“I was actually having my morning coffee, and when I saw the first rumour I kind of laughed about it.
“That’s the kind of negative side of this sport sometimes. Sometimes people just want to make rumours to write stuff and make up stuff. I’ve learned it’s part of it, and it doesn’t really affect me anymore.
“I know my situation, the team knows my situation, and they support me 100 per cent, so that’s why from my side it was okay in the end.”
Bottas also revealed that the team had found issues on both the engine and the chassis side the explained the chasm in pace between him and Pérez in Montreal.
“We need to keep working on the quality of how we build the car, how we fit all the parts, and so on,” he said.
Bottas’s denial comes after both Esteban Ocon and his Haas boss, Ayao Komatsu, angrily denied rumours of a rift between them as the Frenchman struggles to match second-season teammate Oliver Bearman at the Canadian Grand Prix.
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