Las Vegas GP date leaked, F1 race could pair with Abu Dhabi

The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix night race has a preliminary race date of November 16-18 next year that could form a glitzy season-ending back-to-back with Abu Dhabi.

F1 pulled off a major coup earlier this year by getting all the agreements and permissions necessary to use the Las Vegas city streets and run its cars past some of the city’s major casinos.

A letter of intent from Liberty Dice, a new entity created by the sport’s owner Liberty Media, lays out the terms of the five-year deal for the F1 race on a track that includes a section on Vegas’s world-famous ‘Strip’.

The 17-page letter was posted on social media, and its veracity has been substantiated by Adam Stern at Sports Business Journal with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the government agency that markets events in the city.

The letter is dated March 28, two days before the event was formally announced – when no precise race date was given beyond “November 2023” – and its contents are subject to change.

It reveals the planned inaugural race date next year of November 18, a week before America’s Thanksgiving Weekend, and that the contract runs through 2027.

That opens the door to it being a regular penultimate round of the season, with F1 wishing to end its schedule on the final weekend of November in Abu Dhabi.

Las Vegas track map

Photo by: Liberty Media

The letter commits to keeping this same weekend slot for the five-year duration, and that the schedule for the night race will be planned so that track activity will end no later than 1:30am PT each day.

The document also lays out the commercial terms of the event, as well as the groundwork for the temporary street circuit’s construction and maintenance. It includes guidelines for a requirement of 900 marshals, 1,200 fire extinguishers, 15 cranes and 18 ambulances and tow trucks.

It does not cover the plans for the permanent pit and race control facility, which Liberty CEO Greg Maffei revealed in May would be built on a plot of nearby land in central Vegas purchased for $240million.

Maffei said: “Notably and differently than most places, F1 and Liberty Media are self-promoting the race in partnership with local stakeholders and Live Nation.

“The build out for this track will require increased CapEx and OpEx to develop. I would note that Liberty Media did enter an agreement to acquire 39 acres east of the strip to lock in circuit design and create capacity for the pit and paddock, among other hospitality and race support venues.”