Formula 1 called out over ’horrific’ Las Vegas Grand Prix statement

The Las Vegas Grand Prix has gone from bad to worse with a Formula 1 statement ruffling the feathers of every fan.

The F1 have been called out over missing word in Las Vegas statement. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

A 670 word statement from the Formula 1 CEO and Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO was five words short.

The opening day of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was about as disastrous as it could have been for the sport.

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From the track falling apart and destroying Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, to fans being kicked out before the second practice session had even begun and locals turning on the event.

And just when you think things couldn’t get any worse for Formula 1, they’ve found a way to dig themselves in even deeper.

Ahead of the second day of on track action, a statement from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Vegas GP CEO Renee Wilm was released.

The statement detailed everything that went wrong and the reasons behind the decisions made on day one.

Despite the lengthy explanations being offered up, fans were quick to point out that missing throughout the entire statement was one key word … sorry.

ESPN’s Nate Saunders wrote: “A second statement from F1/LVGP without any apology to fans or accepting responsibility for what happened. Horrific comms.”

F1 journalist Chris Medland wrote: “Remarkably, a statement of over 600 words and not one of them is the word “sorry”, “apologise” or “regret”. This is an explanation of what happened yesterday (12 hours after the end of FP2) but reads far too much like an excuse than anything to address the fans who lost out.”

Whilst a full explanation of what happened yesterday is always welcome, there are lots of words in this statement. Surely ‘sorry’ should have been first on the list? Such a shame that it wasn’t the first, the last, or anywhere https://t.co/Uu6QuwHueK

— David Croft (@CroftyF1) November 18, 2023

Saying "it happens, and we hope people will understand" is giving me this vibe honestly pic.twitter.com/Rxle6gd7N6

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) November 18, 2023

Cor dear. Statement telling fans/customers, [sh]"it happens", really isn't a good look.
Good explanation into details, but have some humility to say sorry.#LasVegasGP

— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) November 18, 2023

While the statement released ignored any form of an apology, Aussie star Daniel Ricciardo offered one up to fans who were kicked out of the stands.

The AlphaTauri driver had already gone public with his concerns about the ticket prices at the event.

“Obviously, now that we’ve done a session, it feels more worth it. But at 1:30am (it) didn’t feel worth it. Everyone was like let’s just do this tomorrow,” he said, according to motorsport.com.

“I obviously don’t know the ins and outs with track availability and obviously it’s not a conventional circuit, so it’s not like we can just rock up here in the morning. I’m sure there are some limitations that we are a little bit at the mercy of.

“The grandstand situation, obviously that’s a bummer. But I guess if we didn’t do FP2, then it probably would have gotten scrapped, and we just would have gone into FP3.

“So, at least like this, maybe the fans got to the very least watch it on TV. We try to be positive. But yeah, it’s obviously a difficult situation.

“But I also don’t want to s**t on the sport. It’s the first time here, it’s a massive project and things unfortunately happened, but I guess they did the best they could with what they had.”

Ricciardo apologised to fans. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/AFP

Read the Formula 1 statement in full following the tumultuous events that unfolded during the opening day around the brand new Las Vegas track.

“Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans. Responsibility for the oversight of a Formula 1 event falls with Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder of the sport, the FIA as the regulatory body, and the local promoter, in this case the Las Vegas Grand Prix. This is important for those who are new to racing to understand.

“Last night, approximately nine minutes into the first Free Practice session, a water valve cover broke on the straight on Las Vegas Boulevard. At that time the FIA, which is responsible for the safe running of the activities on the circuit, stopped the session so that we could look at the broken water valve cover and inspect the track. This has happened on occasion at other tracks at other races around the world.

“The precautionary step of removing all of the water valve covers on the entire track and filling them with sand and asphalt was undertaken. The entire process, from determination of the issue to remediation, took approximately five hours. The decision to remediate in this way was taken out of an abundance of caution and because the safety of drivers, trackside marshals and officials and our fans is always our highest priority. We thank the contractors who worked expeditiously to resolve the situation so quickly.

“As a result, the first Free Practice ended early. We moved ahead with the second Free Practice session at approximately 2:30 AM PT for 90 minutes.

“The decision to run the second Free Practice session at 2:30 AM PT was supported by all parties to ensure the sporting integrity of the remainder of the event.

“We would like to thank the drivers, mechanics and all the teams for their patience and commitment last night to ensure that we could run the session successfully.

Things got off to a nightmare start. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

“Now, let us turn to the fan experience.

“The delay in the start of the second Free Practice session from midnight to 2:30 AM PT created risks for our employees and our fans.

“We made the decision to close the fan areas that are under LVGP’s purview at 1:30 AM PT and send fans home.

“Let us explain why.

“First, we were concerned about our public safety and security officials who had been in service for a long time and who are being asked to work for the next three nights. We thank Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Department of Public Works and other public safety officials for their incredible support during the event and also as we re-opened the track early this morning.

“Second, we were concerned about our transportation employees who are responsible for driving our fans back to hotels. By Federal law, they were bumping up against the amount of time they can legally and safely drive buses.

“Finally, our hospitality staff needed the ability to clean and resupply our guest areas to ensure that the fan experience is optimal for everyone over the coming days.

“We know this was disappointing. We hope our fans will understand based on this explanation that we had to balance many interests, including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend.

“We have all been to events, like concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races, that have been cancelled because of factors like weather or technical issues. It happens, and we hope people will understand.

“So how will we address this tonight?

“We have worked overnight to adjust our staffing plans across security, transportation and hospitality to ensure that we can function and serve fans with the best possible experience in the event of an extended race schedule.

“We are excited about the racing today and thank our entire team and our fans for their support. We know this is going to be a great event. With that let’s get back to racing.”