Unlike F1’s first attempt at racing in Vegas in the early 1980s with the Caesars Palace GP, the new showpiece event for the championship promoter and its owner, Liberty Media, incorporates a 1.4-mile-stretch of the Strip on the Las Vegas Boulevard.
The race had already courted some controversy in the weeks leading up to this weekend on this element, when view-blocking filters were applied to areas of pedestrian bridges running over the Strip that prevented people without tickets from seeing the track.
When attempts were made to remove this by local residents, it was replaced in the relevant areas and had cage-like structures added, that also covered the bridges’ upper elements to stop anything being thrown down onto the track.
Shops along the Strip were also prevented from selling glass items during specific times around the F1 track sessions as part of a bid to prevent anything dangerous somehow ending up on the track.
As is the case at many permanent tracks F1 visits, view-blocking screens were also added to many of the fences that lined the tracks’ perimeter on the Strip’s pavement, which remained accessible to the public even during live sessions.
During the Vegas race, as can be seen in the photos above and below, some fans – some clad in team wear merchandise but thought to be without tickets – successfully tore through this to gain a view of the track on the Strip beyond.
Event staff attempted to replace the screens after they were damaged but were unsuccessful.
Source: Autosport