A historic weekend
The dust has settled on the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix, which treated those in attendance to historic views of racecars traveling 200mph+ around the Strip. The action on track even exceeded expectations, with Red Bull man Max Verstappen claiming the win in a dramatic fashion.
second-hand tickets for race day grew to an eye-watering $1,387 each
Tickets to the event were not cheap. A three-day general admission ticket to the West Harmon Zone stood at around $500, while those with a little more cash to burn could fork out as much as $22,000 for the Paddock Club. By the time the weekend rolled around, second-hand tickets for race day grew to an eye-watering $1,387 each.
So, what about those F1 fans who couldn’t quite raise the cash to get a pristine view of the course? Well, a street track such as Las Vegas offers many opportunities for locals and visitors to catch some action for free, much to the ire of F1 owner Liberty Media. VegasSlotsOnline News has scoured social media to find the best examples of sneaky spectators from the weekend.
Riding escalators
Our first method is clever, although it might prove slightly annoying if endured for the entire 80-minute race. Many fans discovered that they could get clear views of the Las Vegas Strip track by riding nearby escalators up and down.
Footage on social media shows numbers of fans filming with their phones from the downward escalators before swiftly taking the ride back up:
Bypassing privacy screens
Las Vegas organizers have worked hard to ensure those without tickets don’t get a free view. One of the ways they have done this is by installing privacy screens across any bridges or overlooking walkways.
As pointed out by Vegas reporter Brett Forest on X, some have found ingenious ways of bypassing these screens. For example, they can’t stop those who are standing a little further back and viewing from other raised platforms.
the action is just visible through the semi-opaque covering
Other methods in which viewers tried to beat these screens included peering underneath (if there was a gap to do so) or even watching through the screens themselves. Although the view isn’t great, video footage shows that the action is just visible through the semi-opaque covering:
Some fans even took the (most-likely-illegal) method of tearing the mesh covering down entirely.
Using reflections
Our final method probably gives the clearest view of the action, although you might feel a little silly doing it. Large crowds of fans watched the F1 in the reflection of windows that were facing the track, giving a perfect view of certain sectors:
The fact that these people are viewing the action on a large glass screen begs the question as to whether it might be better just catching it on TV at home – but each to their own.
Whatever their means, many fans managed to catch a glimpse of history over the weekend, some paying significantly less to do so.