F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix attendance down in 2024
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Crowd figures were down for F1’s second modern-era Las Vegas race, despite heavily reduced ticket prices and a championship showdown.
Crowd numbers for the 2024 Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix – held over the weekend – were 9000 down on last year, despite lower ticket prices, a world-title showdown and a better-executed event.
Red Bull star Max Verstappen claimed his fourth world championship at this year's event, where Formula One cars race down the famous Las Vegas strip at up to 366km/h with the city's lights as the backdrop for a unique night-race spectacle.
Yet this year's figure of 306,000 was down on last year's 315,000 attendees, which saw F1 return to the city for the first time since the Caesars Palace Grand Prix held between 1981 and 1984.
Before the 2024 race weekend, event organisers predicted a drop in attendance as a natural occurrence in the event's second year.
MORE: Max Verstappen wins fourth F1 World Championship in Las Vegas
The spectacle and hype of the 2023 event, which included rockstar-like driver introductions and fanfare for the night race – bringing cold conditions for the fans and competitors – was tempered by a handful of issues.
This included a manhole cover coming loose on the track – dramatically damaging the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz – which delayed the first pre-race practice sessions well into the early hours of the next day.
Outraged fans were forced out of their seats, event organisers not anticipating such delays, as spectators were not permitted to stay at the circuit due to a curfew – the second practice session held awkwardly with no fans in the grandstands.
The Grand Prix itself was held between 1:00am and 3:00am local time on Monday morning, with the 2024 race moved to an earlier start time of 10:00pm on Sunday night for a midnight finish.
Yet an earlier time and even the lure of a championship showdown between Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris – with the former having sewn up the 2023 title four races earlier in the season – wasn't enough to pull more fans to the 2024 event.
Las Vegas also remains the most expensive race to attend on the 24-event global F1 calendar.
Lower ticket prices, which in some cases had been slashed by almost 50 per cent, mainly applied to hospitality suites – with the price of a general admission adult admission for race day still approximately $US450 ($AU690).
That's higher than the Miami Grand Prix in Florida – the next most expensive at $US435 ($AU660) according to Motorsport Magazine – and the United States Grand Prix held in Austin, Texas at $US389 ($AU590).
It's also considerably more than fans pay to attend the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Qatar Grand Prix – which is the next race on the 2024 calendar after Las Vegas – or even the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Las Vegas ticket price is more than double the prices for the season-opening 2025 Australian Grand Prix, with a race day (Sunday) Park Pass for an adult at Albert Park currently priced at $207.72 before fees, making it one of the cheapest F1 races to attend.
The 2025 Melbourne race will see Lewis Hamilton make his debut as a Ferrari driver, while the Gold Coast's Jack Doohan will line up in an Alpine as the second Australian alongside McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the 2025 F1 grid.
Las Vegas was signed on by F1 owners Liberty Media for three years, but its contract is expected to be renewed beyond next year's event.
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