LAS VEGAS—Formula 1 held the third annual Las Vegas Grand Prix this past weekend in the Nevada city. The race is an outlier in so many ways, and a divisive one at that. Some love the bright lights that make it appear to be set in Mega-City One or F-Zero. Others resent the rampant commercialism of F1 at its most excessive. And this time, Ars was on the ground, making one of our periodic visits to the series. The race we saw was something of a damp squib, seemingly leaving McLaren’s Lando Norris in control of the championship.
At least that’s how it looked when I left the track on Saturday night. Within a few hours, Norris and his teammate (and one of his two title rivals) Oscar Piastri were both disqualified for having worn away too much of the “legality plank” underneath the car—more on that in a while.
I was <a href=”https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/11/f1-succeeds-in-making-its-las-vegas-debut-a-spectacular-one/”>a huge skeptic of the idea</a> when the Las Vegas race was announced, but the first two events put on a good show. Year 3 was a little more dull, however.
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Clive Mason/Getty Images
Emblematic of the new F1
Unlike most Grands Prix, Liberty Media promotes this one itself. It spent half a billion dollars to get ready for the 2023 event, some of that on the pit lane and paddock complex, yet more on resurfacing the roads to the standards preferred by these thoroughbred racing cars. The track layout—which looks like a pig on its back—is typical of North American street circuits.
