If the groundbreaking, F1 promoted race around the Strip is earmarked as the series' very own Superbowl, then it already served up a halftime show to match a day before on-track proceedings even start.
F1 pulled out all the stops to produce a ceremony befitting its entertainment driven host city, featuring appearances by Kylie Minogue, John Legend, Journey, Keith Urban, Steve Aoki, Thirty Seconds to Mars, J Balvin and DJ Tiesto, as well as performers from Cirque du Soleil.
Drones performed a synchronised overhead ballet to welcome the main grandstand audience - tickets went for a cool $165 for the 30-minute show - with the event topped off by a driver introduction where all 20 drivers were raised onto platforms team by team as they greeted the fans.
The highly-produced set piece appeared to be well received by the spectators, despite some gripes about the audio, and less awkward than Miami's hamfisted boxing style intros, with more buy-in from drivers.
Online reviews from the show, which was shown delayed on F1's YouTube channel, were less complimentary, with many fans from F1's European heartland baffled by the spectacle, which is alien to the series' normal way of doing things.
Source: Autosport