After working through the night with Ferrari engineers and mechanics in a furious, last-minute attempt to repair the damaged car in time for Saturday night’s race – and facing a frustrating fine imposed by the governing body of the sport, mainly because he had to use a replacement part to fix something that was either an act of God or a fault of the rail infrastructure – Vasseur spoke his unvarnished truth about the impossible situation at a press conference, at which the host then tried to move on to a happier subject.
“I was in this mood,” says Vasseur. “And then the guy said, ‘Ah, can you do a recap of the season?’ I said, ‘No, fuck that.'”
Around the same time, Max Verstappen – the sport’s intermittently humorless world champion for three years in a row, who has already been declared champion for the fourth time after a dominant season in 2023 – called the Vegas race ‘99% show, 1% sporting event’ .
“I understand that fans have something to do around a track, but it is more important to make them understand what we do as a sport,” he continues a day later. “Most just come to have a party, have a drink, see a performance. I can do that all over the world – I can do that in Ibiza and get all messed up and have a good time.
Leclerc seems to understand this view, but from the other side of the coin, so to speak. “I came here three years ago with all my best friends,” he tells me, “mostly to party – and we had a great time. I love Vegas. Obviously we’re here for a different reason now, but the hype surrounding the race is what makes it so special. It makes it more fun.”
After the opening ceremony on Wednesday evening, which included everyone from Kylie Minogue and Andra Day to John Legend and Keith Urban, along with all the drivers together, Verstappen had already said: “For me you can skip this… We’re just standing still . up there, looking like a clown.” Twenty-four hours later, he climbed into his car wearing a racing suit designed to honor Vegas-era Elvis.
If I learned anything from my three days spent in the rococo heart of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it’s this: If you have a problem with clowns, best to stay away from the circus. The city of Las Vegas – along with its armada of hotels, resorts and casinos, along with the owners of Formula 1 – has spent billions of dollars and many years on construction to this point, and they were finished. My accommodation at Wynn including three days Paddock club cards – which were packaged in a large box with two tiers of pull-out drawers, each containing different types of laminate, individually arranged in presentation boxes, delivered to me by a white-gloved clerk. When I checked into my room, there was a large chocolate sculpture on the desk and individual treats presented at regular intervals – from more chocolates to Ladurée macarons, racing merch and a Chinese pineapple cake from the resort’s Wing Lei restaurant. Lewis Hamilton served his new non-alcoholic tequila at one of the bars downstairs and opened a pop-up shop of his +44 Murakami clothing collaboration around the corner; The Chainsmokers were playing in one room, Calvin Harris and Diplo in the other. As for the paddock itself, it included a wedding chapel filled with an Elvis impersonator to marry you, if you so desired. (Several couples did too, including 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who was surprised by his girlfriend Giulia Marra when ‘Elvis’ sang ‘Here Comes the Bride’.)
