What to Know When Attending an F1 Race

LAS VEGAS — At the Starbucks inside the lobby of the Venetian, two people wearing Mercedes shirts talk with another wearing McLaren. An Alpine team member types away at a laptop at the opposite end. Fans wearing shirts of Ferrari and Aston Martin stop to take pictures of a 2020 Alpine car parked right in the middle of the walkway.

The casino tables are a mix of cigarettes, desperation and energy in a rainbow of red, green, blue and pink shirts. Nearby, a woman toting a large Gucci bag and a man wearing a Red Bull jacket walk out of a strip mall liquor store.

It’s all part of the eclectic and electric scene on a Formula 1 weekend.

“Some races are called with the city because they are close to it, but they are not in the city,” Esteban Ocon said during a media roundtable as a driver for Alpine before he moved to Haas for the 2025 season. “This is pure Vegas.”

Formula 1 is one of the most glamorous series in the world of sport. The mention of Monaco brings opulence to mind. Silverstone or Monza bring tales of historical races past. Over the past decade, the series’ popularity has exploded thanks to Netflix and its move to new markets in the Middle East and especially North America with races in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas.

This year’s F1 season starts in less than 50 days. Friday marked the 100-day countdown to the Miami Grand Prix. What is it like attending a Formula 1 race? SportsTravel was there in November to soak in the pure Vegas experience.

Inside the Velvet Rope

One of the biggest status symbols during Las Vegas Grand Prix race week was a bright green VIP badge. Walking anywhere outside with it drew looks from some, questions on where to get one from others and in one case, an offer to pay for it (said offer was immediately declined).

Given the clientele, the hospitality at any Formula 1 race is as important as the race. That was the case not only for the Venetian, which has a partnership with Alpine. Paddock Club passes start at $15,000 per person to get entrance into the experiences atop the $500 million F1 pit building, a structure that is now a permanent part of the Las Vegas infrastructure year round.

During race week, the Paddock Club had levels of entertainment spaces for race teams and sponsors. It also included views of the start/finish line with inside dining spaces that mixed opulence, exclusivity and decadence. The entrance started with a champagne tasting before spectators went up escalators to check out individual spaces for resorts, teams and race sponsors. Experiences included the “LIV on the Grid” open nightclub with dance floor, special donut tasting options (yes, they were extraordinary) and a synthetic ice rink with rental skates and — for those who has never skated — skate helpers designed with F1 team colors and logos. The experience made one feel as if they were behind the most luxurious velvet rope imaginable, where people are there to be seen by other people.  And if you happen to see any of the race, that’s a bonus — but first let me get this selfie posted on social media.

The Paddock Cub is different than the paddock itself, which SportsTravel had access to roam around as well. The area itself was quiet on Wednesday night and progressively busier ahead to Saturday, as one would expect. The club is where fans inside could see drivers (we saw all but four) and team principles and employees could relax and chat over an espresso.

Each team’s private areas were lit up in the language of Las Vegas: Neon. Food was open for employees with a Thanksgiving-themed buffet meal on Wednesday that got more high-end later in the weekend, the buffet area replaced by a sit-down sushi experience. One of the most popular areas was a ‘doghouse’ where anybody in the paddock could have a custom dog tag made for their pet; thousands were made over the course of the week.

The Pure Vegas Experience

The scheduling of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the first leg of a tripleheader followed by races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, is intentional. While industry sources told SportsTravel that the economic impact for casinos and hotels from the race was down significantly from its inaugural year, the millions made was still multiples more than what the pre-Thanksgiving weekend usually was for Vegas before F1 landed.

While staying at the Venetian, the pickup from Tuesday of race week with each successive day was noticeable. On Tuesday, you could walk into the merchandise store at the Venetian at any point in the day without pausing. By Thursday, the wait to get in at a store opening was about an hour; by Saturday, the wait was closer to two hours.

(With all the designer stores in Vegas, there was one status symbol above all ­— wearing something from F1’s collaboration with Peanuts. The daily stock of Snoopy clothing sold out within 30 minutes or less each morning with one couple getting engaged in front of the exhibit on Thursday.)

Not everybody in Vegas for race week was a big-time F1 fan. On Wednesday, a man decked in Williams gear waited to get into the official store, asking the person next to him if the race was being held that night before conversation evolved into a discussion of the U.S. health care system. On Friday night on the way to qualifying, a couple in an elevator asked why people were wearing so many red shirts in the Venetian; turns out they were offered “tickets to some race thing tonight” but declined because they were in town to see cabaret.

But it was fully alive on the Strip by Friday as the race beckoned. The walk to the paddock became longer to take; inside the hotel, restaurant lines became extended, the space to roam cramped as people walked around with massive bags full of clothing. As the foot traffic increased, so did the traffic on the Strip ­— which, with Vegas being one of F1’s true street courses, leads to seasonal irritation among some. However, it does give those who drive on the Strip during the day the chance to brag later that they drove the same route as Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

And while F1 fans throughout the Eastern United States experienced sleep deprivation with the 10 p.m. local start, the timing fits into the European morning TV window and showcased the city lights because, as one observer pointed out, “Vegas doesn’t look great during the day but Vegas is pretty at night.”

“When we race, it’s always head down,” Ocon said. “You look at what you have to do on the track. But last year, after the race on the cool down lap, I looked up and was seeing Caesars Palace, going around seeing the Parisian, the Eiffel Tower. That was special. It’s not often that I am able to do that.”

The hospitality that resorts and F1 put into Las Vegas — or any race — comes from the realization that once there, you only see a very small part of each lap with your own eyes. That makes the TVs in a hospitality area or large-screen projection screens in general admission stands invaluable to know what is going on with the other 95-plus percent of the event. But regardless of what you see of the race, there is a gigantic amount of cache that comes from saying you were there, whether with a general admission ticket or a green VIP pass.

And as the fireworks closed the race and fans started dispersing after midnight, that did not mean the night was over. For many, their race was only beginning. It is the experience of being in Vegas for F1, after all.