ROAD TO THE GRAND PRIX

Behind the glamour of Formula 1, the intensive preparation is on.

The intensive work to ready the city for our Grand Prix has kicked in and our Stakeholder Working Group now meets monthly to inform our stakeholders of logistics, security, timelines, and the commercial aspects of the race. “We started doing these meetings in conjunction with the NFL Draft,” says Chief Operations Officer Brian Yost. Interest was so widespread, “We went out of the chute for F1 meetings casting as wide a net as possible, including residential buildings, shopping, casinos, and even the gas stations proximal to the track.” The meetings have grown from a handful of Metro, fire, and airport representatives to over 400 attendees for the April meeting. “When you have an event of this scale, information is key,” he says. 

At the LVCVA, our own countdown started long ago. Senior leadership attended races in Singapore and Austin to learn from other host cities in advance of the Las Vegas debut. “We learned how other cities handle the operations for a race like this,” Yost says. “For instance, it was key for us to see how Singapore shuts down the city and works with traffic, and we met with the Singapore Civil Defense Force to learn how they prepare for and execute security measures.” The team’s trip to Austin highlighted the challenge of transporting 165,000 people in and out of a city come race day. Among the stakeholder meetings have been exhaustive discussions about the road repaving process; identifying pedestrian paths to fan zones and paddock clubs; discussing designated offsite parking areas, and ticketing policies, among others. “We try to learn from each of these events,” he says, but the process can feel like Russian nesting dolls. “Every time we take the head off the last doll, there’s another one inside it.” But this process is key: “F1will be larger than anything we’ve ever done or that we’ll do in the near future.”