Formula 1 will have access to remain in Las Vegas through at least 2032 after the Clark County Commission provided a unanimous vote to recognise it as an annual event.
The vote clears the way for the sport, which currently has a three-year deal through 2025 in place, to race down the famous Las Vegas Strip for a decade.
F1 will visit the Nevada city this November for the first race around a new street track, with the grand prix taking place on Saturday night.
It will host the penultimate round of the 2023 campaign, but hopes to be a permanent fixture on the calendar going forward.
The Clark County Commission waived a 120-day time limitation for filing an application for special events on the Las Vegas streets “for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix each Wednesday through Sunday, the week prior to Thanksgiving in November the years 2023 through 2032”.
Project manager Terry Miller outlined that he expects F1 to reach unprecedented speeds around the race track.
“We’re going to have 17 different turns on the track, we’re going to reach miles per hour of 212, which I always get a little bit caught up in,” he said. “The engineers were very precise, it’s 212 – not 215, 218, it’s 212.
“I think we’re going to hit a record for Formula 1 in Las Vegas in terms of the actual miles per hour for the racers.”
Some minor modifications have been made to the track layout, as the sweeping right-hander that originally made up Turn 6 now includes a chicane.
F1 purchased a sizeable piece of land in Vegas last year, which it is using to construct the paddock building.
The facility is set to feature a huge F1 logo on the roof which doubles up as a LED screen to be seen by people flying into the city.
“You don’t get a sense of the magnitude of this building until you’re out on the site,” Miller said.
“It’s 1000 feet long, so it’s larger than three football fields. It’s 100 feet wide, which is twice a football field.
“So it’s pretty, pretty significant in terms of the size and configuration of this building on that site.”
The motion received a unanimous vote, with Chairman of the Clark Country Commission James B. Gibson outlining that he foresees a “lifetime” of partnership with F1.
“I think it’s important to note that we have a three-year contract with Formula 1 but we anticipate a lifetime together in partnership together,” he said.
“This will open the pathway to at least do it for 10 years, and beyond that, I’m sure those who succeed us will see the value in what we’ve done and will continue to do it forever.”
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