Max Verstappen says the Las Vegas Grand Prix is ‘more for the show’ and exudes very little excitement about taking to the track.
Formula 1 will return to ‘Sin City’ this weekend for the first time since 1982, this time on a 1.4-mile circuit on the iconic Las Vegas Boulevard.
It’s the penultimate race of the 2023 season, with Verstappen already the world champion for the third consecutive year.
However, the Red Bull Racing star is far from the circuit’s biggest fan, with the track featuring a series of tight corner and long straights.
Speaking ahead of the Grand Prix, he said: “First of all, I think we are there more for the show than the racing itself if you look at the layout of the track.
“But you know, I’m actually not that into it. I’m more like, I’ll go there and do my thing and be gone again.”
Monaco is a notoriously tight circuit although when this mentioned to Verstappen, he dismissed any idea that the two will race the same.
“Yes, but Monaco is also just history and the place itself. Everyone wants to have been to Monaco once. You can’t really compare.”
Verstappen is not the only one who’s not one to buy into the hype of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with F1’s former boss Bernie Ecclestone critical of the event.
“I’m not really looking forward to it. Why not? It has nothing to do with Formula 1,” he told Dutch outlet NOS.
Las Vegas hosted two races in 1981 and 1982, although they were named as the Caesar’s Palace Grands Prix.
This year’s race in ‘Sin City’ is third to take place in the United States this year, with Miami and Austin the other two cities.
