What To Expect From The Las Vegas Grand Prix: Spectacles, Speed, And Horrendous Start Times

It's finally here, folks. It's Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, easily the most highly-anticipated race on the Formula 1 schedule.

There's a lot of excitement surrounding this race and that's with both championships having been locked up for weeks.

Now, that doesn't mean there aren't still battles worth keeping tabs on throughout the weekend. There certainly are, but can you imagine the fervor if there was still a championship on the line?

Still, despite the excitement, there are some genuine concerns about how Formula 1 is impacting the city of Las Vegas. Plus, with a brand new circuit, could all of this excitement culminate with a boring Grand Prix on Saturday night?

Let's take a look at some of thing things to watch out for this weekend.

Formula 1 Is All About Spectacles And So Is Las Vegas

Some Formula 1 races are as much about the glitz and glamour as they are about the racing. Think Monaco for instance. It's as much about the event as the racing itself, which often leaves a lot to be desired.

On the spectacle front, Las Vegas looks primed to top even Monaco.

Sure, Vegas residents are no doubt annoyed and ready for this race to be in the books, but the rest of us should be in for a show.

There are going to be stars galore all weekend, with some performing and others showing up in Sin City to see, and more importantly, be seen.

Shaquille O'Neal and David Beckham will even host one of the many parties held across the weekend.

Without a doubt, there will be some ridiculousness going on as well, especially the brand that Vegas is known for. Think about all of the nonsense that happens at Vegas Golden Knights games. Guys skating around in suits of armor. A banner being raised with a giant slot machine.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix should have that and then some.

Look at how Red Bull decided to unveil their special livery for the weekend: they lowered it into a packed nightclub.

Oh and speaking of liveries...

Teams Are Bringing Special Looks To Sin City

Special liveries are always interesting. On one hand, it's fun to switch it up, but on the other, you'd be disappointed to see changes to iconic liveries from teams like Red Bull or Ferrari.

With this being the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix it was pretty obvious that teams would gussy-up their liveries for the occasion.

And gussy they did. Here are what some teams' cars will look like this weekend.

Some pretty solid liveries in there. The neon from Red Bill is fantastic and I like that Williams kind of went all in.

However, I really like Ferrari's livery for the weekend. I have no clue what it has to do with Vegas but it looks so good. When it comes to Ferrari, I usually prefer some mustard yellow on my Ferrari livery, but that red and white scheme is good enough to be their regular look.

Will The Las Vegas Grand Prix Circuit Yield Any Good Racing?

Enough about spectacles and liveries, we're all going to be tuning in (at ungodly hours; more on that in a second) for the racing.

I'd love to say the first Las Vegas Grand Prix will be a banger, as the kids say, but we won't know until it happens.

F1 last visited Las Vegas in the early 1980s for the United States Grand Prix and used a notoriously boring circuit built in the Caesars Palace parking lot. This new circuit uses real streets including the parts of the Vegas Strip and looks to be considerably more interesting than its predecessor.

At the very least, everyone has noticed that it looks like an upside-down pig.

This circuit looks like it'll be fast thanks to a pair of FRS zones and some long straights. The blast from turn 12, through turn 13 (which is probably safe to say won't even be a corner in F1 car) and into 14 will be blistering. So will the pit straight and the run from turn 16 into 17.

I don't think it will top the "is it safe to be doing this"-level of speed we see on the Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit in Saudi Arabia, but fast enough that teams with great straight-line speed like Williams will have had this date circled for months.

There also look to be some great overtaking spots at the end of those straights, so I think we could be in for a decent race...

...if you can stay up to see it.

The Start Times For This Entire Race Las Vegas Grand Prix Weekend Are Horrific

If ever there was a city that could host a race in the middle of the night it's Las Vegas. The only problem is that this means catching practice and qualifying sessions will be a nightmare.

The race is scheduled to start at 10 pm local time on Saturday night. You don't need to be a middle school geography bee champ like me to know that means it's a 1 am start on the East Coast.

As if that weren't bad enough, Qualifying starts at 3 am one night, as does Free Practice 2. I get that doing this makes the race more watchable around the world, plus they want the race to be under the lights. But don't you think they would've wanted to make it for viewers in America, where they're trying to grow the sport? They could've started the race at 7 pm local time and it would've been plenty dark.

So, unfortunately, a lot of us will be forced to watch some sessions the next morning... bummer.

I'm anxious to see how this all shakes out because the Las Vegas Grand Prix is unlike anything Formula 1 has ever done before.

If it works, that's fantastic. However, if things go a little bit sideways — the racing is dull, the ratings are terrible because of the start times, or they manage to piss locals off even more than they already have — it might start to look a bit different in the years to come.

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