Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is wrong, F1 Las Vegas GP has given a black eye to the sport

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's vociferous rebuttal over suggestions that the first day of the F1 Las Vegas GP had proved to be a red-eye for the spot caught many by surprise. It's not often that we see the Austrian losing his temper. At least not when it's about something that does not involve his team.

Wolff was overtly defensive about the event organizers and went after the journalist who questioned the event. Having said that, if we look back at the chaotic mess that the first day of the F1 Las Vegas GP was, it has given a black eye to the sport even if the Mercedes boss isn't willing to admit that.

What happened on the first day of the F1 Las Vegas GP?

Here is a recap of the events that transpired on the first day of the F1 Las Vegas GP:

• FP1 was cut short to nine minutes due to a drain cover damaging Carlos Sainz's car
• The Ferrari of the Spaniard was one of the three cars that were damaged
• FP2 session had to be delayed as FIA checked every drainage cover at the circuit
• The session started at 2:30 AM local time
• Before the start of the session, all the fans were told to leave the circuit
• Multiple fans have expressed their displeasure on losing money by buying a Friday-only ticket as they saw no action on the track.

By the end of the day, the season ended at 4:00 AM local time and the drivers were visibly tired in the end.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's rant on the issues in FP1

Toto Wolff was part of the team principal press conference after FP1 and a question was pitched to him about the 2023 F1 Las Vegas GP. The Austrian was asked about the disruption in FP1 and whether that would be a black eye for the sport.

The Mercedes boss, uncharacteristically agitated in the press conference, launched into a rant at the reporter. Wolff claimed that the event was setting new standards in the sport and that it was just a drain cover being loose. He said:

"That is not a black eye. This is nothing! We are Thursday night, we have a free practice session one that we’re not doing, they’re going to seal the drain covers, and nobody’s going to talk about that tomorrow morning anymore."

He added:

"It’s completely ridiculous! Completely ridiculous, FP1, how can you even dare try to talk bad about an event that sets the new standards to everything? And then you’re speaking about a f***ing drain cover that’s been undone. That has happened before! That’s nothing, it’s FP1!"

This is a black eye for F1

We have briefed what happened on the first day of the F1 Las Vegas GP. There are so many reasons the day will prove to be a black eye for the sport and the Mercedes boss has been overwhelmingly wrong.

It's an F1-organised event

A key detail that many would have forgotten is that the Las Vegas GP is an F1-organized event. Conventionally, the organizer for any race is local and manages everything. This time around, FOM has taken the responsibility on itself to do this and hence, anything that goes wrong, it would be held accountable.

If the drain cover came off or repairs had to be made, then the buck stops with FOM and hence any shortcoming could be directly traced back to them.

The exorbitant ticket prizes and poor consumer service

The ticket prizes for the F1 Las Vegas GP have caught the eyes of everyone. To make things worse, there were fans who could only afford single-day passes. Fans singularly came to the race weekend on Friday and nothing else. For those, being forced to leave before FP2 began was infuriating because they didn't get to see anything.

To add to this, there has been no effort to placate fans. These fans have not been given their refunds. They've not been given an opportunity to have any kind of compensation. Even the statement released by the Las Vegas GP organizers did not even bother to talk about those fans and offer them something.

The weekend began with a negative sentiment about the race from the locals. As the weekend progressed, while the Mercedes boss might not agree, the situation had only gotten worse.

How sensible is it to force drivers and teams to race at 2:30 am?

The question that needs to be answered here is how sensible it was to put drivers through a practice session at 2:30 am. It was late at night, it was dark and the drivers were already running low on energy. At that point, for them to switch on their mental focus would have been extremely difficult.

Conclusion

In the end, the unfortunate reality of this track is that there are very few positives. The track seems decent, but in terms of character and quality, it appears to fall into the category of Jeddah and Miami, where low downforce is the key.

Drivers aren't too happy with the layout either, even though Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton might feel different. To add to this, the public disgrace of being told to leave the track when the FP2 had not even begun was a sign of poor consumer cognition and as a result, the Las Vegas GP is not in the news for the right things.

Overall, while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff might feel that there's no such thing as a black eye to the sport, the overwhelming number of missteps have put a dent in the sport's reputation.