If it wasn’t already, the rising popularity of Formula 1 should be evident with the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. No, another new venue does not necessarily mean the sport’s popularity is skyrocketing. Formula 1 has been around the block for quite some time and every country wants to bring the experience to the public. It’s a good tourist attraction as well and brings in revenue. The correlation between F1’s popularity and the Las Vegas GP is because of this new initiative from the sport’s owners. This new initiative could earn Liberty Media a whopping $500 million.

However, this $500 million blinder might be why the sport has not kept the best interests of the most important stakeholders at heart, the fans. First, for the unaware, let us tell you about this $500 million scenario. For the first time since their takeover and perhaps in a long while, the owners of F1, aka Liberty Media, will also act as organizers. After its announcement in 2022, Vegas GP became a highly anticipated race weekend.

To tap into its potential, instead of outsourcing its organizational duties to a third party, Liberty Media took the responsibility upon itself. Although for no humble reasons, like ensuring a streamlined and spotless race weekend. Liberty Media wants to tap into the monetary potential of the weekend, which is close to, you guessed it, $500 million. This is exactly why the owners have invested $240 million in a 39-acre piece of land just for the race weekend. However, in their attempts to maximize the revenue generation from the weekend, the owners have forgotten about the fans. Let us tell you how.

Ahead of the race weekend, Vegas GP’s schedule was released on all social media. The opening ceremony will commence at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, November 15. However, the timings for the rest of the weekend are a little concerning for the fans. FP will commence at 12:00 AM on Thursday, Nov 16, and go on till 1:00 AM on Friday, Nov 17.

The qualifying session will follow a similar schedule the next day and the main event will commence at 10:00 PM on Saturday, November 18.

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These timings are cause for concern and backlash from the fans.

Fans question and criticize the extremely late timing for the Las Vegas GP weekend

The fans are annoyed by the schedule for the entire race weekend. A fan who would’ve purchased an extremely expensive ticket for the entire weekend would have to think twice before attending the first two practice sessions on a weekday.

In fact, the qualifying as well is extremely late for any normal functioning adult. This is exactly the reason behind the backlash from the fans and most of them are asking one question, “Why the hell is it so late?” Some are calling it the worst schedule ever.

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In fact, the timing will change and go from bad to worse for fans within the American subcontinent as well. For example, the race will start at 1 AM for a fan watching the race from New York. Difficult race weekend to follow for most fans. Let’s hope the word reaches the F1 bosses, and the schedule is revamped.