The Sphere Will Be A Centerpiece Of The Las Vegas Grand Prix But Don't Expect To See A Few Specific Colors

There's going to be a lot to look at along the Las Vegas Grand Prix Circuit. One thing that will be impossible to miss is The Sphere. The giant LED screen-covered building will be one of the centerpieces of the race. Since it's so prominent, Formula 1 smartly laid down some ground rules about what can be shown on it.

They're not being sticklers. Some colors have been banned during sessions for safety reasons.

According to Motorsport.com, F1 rented The Sphere for the weekend. This gave U2 — who are in the midst of a residency at the venue — some free time. I have no clue what U2's free time could look like. I just have a hard time imagining Bono sitting on his couch and binge-watching Netflix.

Anyway, F1 has reportedly decided not to allow the colors red, yellow, or blue on The Sphere. So, that giant emoji face thing that we've all seen videos of? Yeah, don't expect to see it much this weekend.

F1 Trying To Avoid Any Confusion Caused By The Sphere

Yellow, red, and blue are all colors used in the FIA's flag system. Yellow is for cautions and safety cars, while red is used to pause a session and return everyone to the pits. Blue flags, meanwhile, are shown to drivers who need to move aside to make way for faster cars on the lead lap.

Of course, no driver will mistake The Sphere for a flag. The concern is that they could mistake it for one of the light panels located around the circuit. These display the same colors used in the flag system. Drivers look for these while they're traveling as fast as 200mph. So, what F1 doesn't need is someone suddenly slowing down because they saw a flash of yellow that turned out to be that big emoji face thing.

Joel Fisher, the executive vice president of marquee events and operations for MSG Entertainment, talked about what will be on the venue's "Exoskeleton" during the event.

"There's going to be some live footage, there's helmets, there's driver cards, there's ads, there's all those types of things, and some other surprises,” he said, per Motorsport.com.

Fisher also said that safety is a priority. He talked about tests that had been done with different colors to determine what they should and shouldn't show on the outside of The Sphere.

Even without reds, yellows, and blues, The Sphere will help give the Las Vegas Grand Prix an atmosphere unlike anything F1 has ever seen.

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