The newest landmark in Las Vegas – a giant Sphere wrapped in 1.2 million LED lights – has only just been opened and the F1 track goes right around it, between turns 5 and 10. The 100-metre-high structure is a massive canvas for over-the-top art and has already morphed into a giant basketball, a blinking eye and a detailed map of the surface of the moon, to name a few. F1 is taking it over for the whole weekend, so keep an eye out for morphing driver helmets and plenty of other animations.
If you think the grid in Monaco gets packed with famous faces, wait until the ‘great and the good’ flood the track ahead of the Las Vegas race. David Beckham and Shaquille O'Neal are certain to be there, as they are hosting a hospitality party at the track, while some of F1’s other big event regulars include Tom Holland, Orlando Bloom, David Harbour, Kylie Minogue, Michael Douglas and Neymar, among many. Getty Images said it photographed more than 1,000 ‘celebrities’ at Monaco this year, so for Las Vegas you had better get a list of ‘Who’s Who in Showbiz’ and play a game of Celebrity Grid Bingo!
This is the first night race held in the US and being on the West Coast of the country makes the timing schedule for F1 fans around the world (and even in the US itself) pretty unique – and, to be frank, fairly inconvenient! The race will start at 10pm local time, so those on the US East Coast will have to wake up or stay up to watch it at 1am, while viewers in the UK will be setting their alarms early on Sunday morning for a 6am start and Europeans will be tuning in at 7am. For those in Australia, though, it will be a rare overseas F1 race that will be shown at a sensible time of the day!
Source: Autosport