“Max Verstappen Compares Las Vegas Grand Prix to the Premier League of Racing” – US News
The world champion of Formula One has compared the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix to the fifth tier of English football, and suggested that fans are only interested in getting “s***-faced”.
Max Verstappen will be starting from the second position on the grid on Sunday after being outpaced by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the first race in Sin City in 40 years.
He had earlier described the race as “99% show, and 1% sport”.
Despite being promoted by Formula One as the greatest show on Earth, the street circuit event has been plagued with delays and low turnouts.
On Friday, spectators only witnessed eight minutes of racing during practice after a loose manhole cover caused damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Practice resumed at 4am local time with empty grandstands surrounding it
On Saturday, while officials predicted a turnout of 100,000 fans on the Las Vegas streets, only 70,000 showed up to watch the qualifying rounds, which started at midnight local time.
Following Saturday’s qualifying, Verstappen expressed, “Monaco is Champions League and this is National League,”
“I feel like the show is important, but I like emotion. When I was a little kid, it was all about the emotion of the sport that I fell in love with and not the show. As a real racer, the show shouldn’t matter.
“An F1 car does not come alive on a street circuit. It is not that exciting. It is about proper racetracks. And when you go to Monza and Spa, these kinds of places have a lot of emotion and passion, and for me seeing the fans there is incredible.”
Verstappen continued to express his thoughts and feelings about the event, and concluded that the sport should focus more on the actual competition and achievements of the teams than putting on random shows.
He also mentioned feeling like a “clown” during the opening ceremony-style event on Wednesday, where the drivers were introduced on an elevating platform.
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