Formula One (F1) is coming to Las Vegas, and the excitement is building! Scheduled for Nov. 16-18, the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 will soon make its Vegas debut, with race speeds anticipated to be more than 212 miles per hour on the straightaway sections of the Las Vegas Strip circuit.
Today, the city is focused on preparations to welcome the world’s premier race car drivers, their elite vehicles, and millions of visitors for this international event. Preparations include repaving the roads that will make up the race circuit. Of course, residents of the Entertainment and Sports Capital of the World are accustomed to, and welcome, global events to the city so they have taken these minor inconveniences in stride.
Plus, as it turns out, road upgrades are no minor feat and top the list of priorities. F1 race cars require “a very specific racing surface of an inch-and-three-quarters,” said Terry Miller of Miller Project Management, during a Las Vegas Review Journal interview. “The centrifugal force that the cars create as they go around the track requires that level of density, not only on the base, but the top layer of the racing surface.”
Miller added that the new track should last six to 10 years, which is good news considering Clark County and Formula One have entered into an agreement that recognizes the Formula One race as an annual Las Vegas event for ten years, according to the same Review Journal article.
The 2023 first Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place at night under the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday November 18. The counter-clockwise 3.8 mile 50-lap circuit weaves through famous Las Vegas icons with 17 corners and three straights. The back straight along the Strip is over half a mile long with top speeds estimated to be over 212 mph, making it one of the fastest tracks on the F1 calendar.
For more information on the track layout, you can get behind the wheel with a Take A Tour of the Circuit video on the F1 website.
In addition to road upgrades, work will soon be completed on F1’s half a billion-dollar paddock building, which is going up on the northeast corner of Harmon and Koval. The 300,000-square-foot, four-story permanent facility is yet another indication of Formula One’s long-term commitment to Las Vegas.
For those just now getting up to speed on their racing terminology, a paddock is a specialized area at a race circuit where teams set up their operations during a race weekend. It is located behind the pits and serves as a central hub for teams to prepare and strategize. The paddock also has hospitality areas for sponsors and guests to entertain, as well as media rooms and a medical center.
Of course, there’s a lot more to do before Las Vegas is fully ready for the big race. Watch for work to begin on the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere. Located adjacent to Turn 5G and set with the backdrop of the Sphere, the zone will be home to consecutive nights of entertainment.
Additional entertainment venues include the MGM Zone, Paddock Zone and East Harmon Zone.
Tickets are still available although general admission is sold out. Numerous Strip resort properties are also offering viewing packages.
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