F1 claims a ‘total economic impact’ of $1.28bn, and it should be a bonanza for all concerned. In other words, it’s shouldering the cost of the infrastructure, set at $316m but according to some sources rapidly heading towards the half-billion mark, and running the whole show. This race is a potential game-changer because rather than cutting a deal with an individual promoter, as it does with the other venues, F1 is promoting itself in Vegas (in tandem with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority).

Working harder than anyone is F1’s primary stake-holder, Liberty Media. Lately, the build-up has felt more exciting than the thing we’re building up to – no slight on Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s extraordinary domination – and the race in Vegas is a high stakes occasion, the zenith of F1’s bombastic showbizification. The, erm, sport’s arrival in Las Vegas is either the end of days for motor racing purists, or the new highlight in a calendar that cements owner Liberty Media’s desire to deliver the equivalent of a Superbowl at every race (24 of them in 2024, but that’s another story and another controversy). They’ll be back from 1 December, but signed off on social media with a pointed “over to you #F1!”Īnd there we have it, Formula One’s anointing as entertainment spectacle, beyond all doubt, from one glittering global behemoth to another. Those of us who figured they’d never consider a residency in Sin City figured wrong: U2 can do showbiz with the best of ’em, and they’ve always enjoyed pushing the tech boundaries. U2 spent much of the past month wholly recalibrating the concept of the live music experience at Las Vegas’s newly opened $2.3bn Sphere.

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