The Race Didn't Even Happen Yet And Las Vegas Grand Prix Organizers Are Facing A Class Action Lawsuit From Unhappy Fans Who Received $200 Merch Vouchers As A Refund

The lights haven't even gone out to start the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix and already, organizers have a post-race headache to deal with in the form of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of some disgruntled fans.

On Thursday night, the first practice session of the weekend was cut short after just 8 minutes of on-track action after Carlos Sainz's Ferrari suffered damage from a loose drain cover. This became a massive problem on multiple fronts and was enough for the red-flagged session to be ended early.

Then, for the next five hours and change, crews checked the 30 other drain covers around the more than 6-mile-long track. That pushed the start of an extended 90-minute Free Practice 2 session back to 2:30 in the morning local time.

A few hardcore F1 fans planned on sticking around, however, they were told to exit the grandstands as a safety precaution.

Those fans wanted refunds — understandably so — and F1 and race organizers would only grant any compensation to single-day ticket holders.

That compensation? A $200 merch voucher.

Fans at the 2022 United States Grand Prix line up to drop insane amounts of money on hats and shirts. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

$200 In Merch Is Not Much At An F1 Race

A quick aside: I went to the inaugural Miami Grand Prix in 2022. I showed up with a pair of foam earbuds that I got a pack of 20 of for like $5 at Walgreens. F1 cars aren't too loud anymore, but the Porsches that were part of one of the support races were. So I was glad I brought them, and even more happy that I brought them from home.

That's because, over the course of the weekend, I popped into some of the merch tents. There I saw that they were selling a single pair of the same type of earplugs for $40. Now those came in a sweet little tube with the F1 logo on it, but still.

So, no. That $200 F1 merch voucher won't exactly buy you a new wardrobe if you're shopping at the track.

And that's why there's a class action suit on behalf of the 35,000 fans affected by the unfortunate first night of the race weekend.

Fans Not Happy About The Lack Of An Actual Refund After Las Vegas Grand Prix Drain Debacle

Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting have filed the suit in Nevada state court against the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. It also names Liberty Media Corporation, DBA Formula One Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix, and TAB Contractors Inc., per Reuters.

"There are a number of issues with that," Steve Dimopoulos told Reuters about the $200 merch vouchers. "Clearly that is not a refund that is sufficient.

"A lot of fans probably don't even want that, they want their money back. There is also peripheral issues of what about the people that came in from out of town and paid for substantial airfare and hotels."

You can certainly understand the fans' point of view. On the Grand Prix organizers' side, they may argue that this whole debacle was the result of a freak incident.

Hopefully, we still get some great action on the track. If not, it looks like there may be some in the courtroom long after the checkered flag.

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