New F1 website, Clark County sports department ahead of second Las Vegas Grand Prix

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – As Las Vegas gears up for Formula One’s return to the Strip, not everyone is on board for round two.

“Our community has F1 PTSD,” said one business owner at Tuesday’s Clark County Commission meeting.

“You will not build a bridge to bankruptcy in front of my business again,” said another business owner.

“Stand with small businesses, the mom and pops, the hourly workers. Let F1 know that we are driving this car,” said a third.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, Grand Prix officials gave an update on plans for this year’s race, including the timeline for construction.

They said they’ll start installing track lighting on sidewalks right after Labor Day, and track barriers will come a few weeks later.

“That’s when we start to affect the traffic flow around the circuit,” said an F1 representative. “We are starting with Harmon and Las Vegas Boulevard and working our way counterclockwise around the circuit.”

To help people navigate these traffic changes, F1 officials said a new website is launching later this month: “It’s interactive, you can get it from a driving or walking perspective, it’s in English and in Spanish.”

The county also introduced an ordinance to create a new Sports and Special Events Department to take the lead in race operations.

These changes for the 2024 race are meant to smooth out both the process and the tension surrounding the racetrack.

“We’ve heard, we know, we’ve visited the places that we know about that have been adversely affected,” said one county commissioner, “and we hope that the changes that have been made will help us in dramatic fashion.“

”The only thing we’re told is year two will be better. How? For who? We’ll only lose a million this year?” asked a business owner. “Instead, you’re proposing a new department with a new department head to make sure Formula One can continue to disrupt Las Vegas.”

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