Get over yourselves. F1 in Las Vegas is exactly what the sport needs
When Navada group The Killers sang Mr Brightside, they were lyricising a love lost adjacent to the Las Vegas strip. And this weekend, for Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, his desire of being a world champion in 2024 could, too, be lost.
Formula 1 has been more exciting this season than it has been since the noughties, albeit 2021 was exciting but for all of the wrong reasons. For the first time in a while the defending champion – in this case Max Verstappen – hasn’t had it all their own way.
But the Dutchman can win the title this weekend as long as he finishes ahead of title rival Lando and scores a point.
It means Formula 1 will continue its habit of having repeat winners; Nico Rosberg the outlier.
Las Vegas is great; I once went there on a school trip. Sometimes state schools offered super opportunities to go skiing Stateside – in this case Salt Lake City – that allowed for a stop off in Sin City.
It was rank: a forced front masqueraded behind bright lights.
Las Vegas hotshot
But there’s no doubt the city holds entertainment and an aura of extravagance, the Sphere is a wonder of the modern world.
It is vibrant, it is exciting and it is exactly where a modern Formula 1 wants to be.
Vegas isn’t perfect but it represents an ecosystem of the USA where anything goes.
Drivers, rightly, moan of the melodrama that comes with being in Vegas – whether it is the pre-race presentation or the car journey to the podium at the fountains of the Bellagio. Sin City delivers.
So many sports are locked into a marriage with tradition and happenstance. Formula 1, with the Las Vegas Grand Prix, has broken through the traditions of a sport about to turn 75 years old.
Formula 1 in Sin City represents a new era, it represents how times they are a-changin.
Mr Brightside may have lost his love on the Las Vegas strip, but Formula 1 under the bright lights is a revolution.
If you don’t like it, get over yourselves. Because this is the future for a sport addicted to growth.