Carlos Sainz believes the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix was ‘a success’ for Formula 1 yet is certain that the race can be improved further in 2025 if F1 regards his two demands.
The Ferrari racer endured a controversial visit to Sin City in 2023 but the 2024 running of the Las Vegas GP proved to be a much smoother time for Sainz. While Mercedes took a one-two result, Sainz brought his SF-24 home in third place for a third podium in the last four rounds.
Sainz’s pace in Las Vegas even surprised Ferrari as he scored 15 important points, alongside the 12 Charles Leclerc bagged, for their constructors’ championship dreams. The Maranello giants outscored McLaren by 12 points in Nevada to move to within 24 with two rounds left.
Carlos Sainz wants F1 to remove the Las Vegas GP to Qatar GP back-to-back in 2025
A podium finish in the 2024 running even offered a reminder of what could have been in the 2023 Las Vegas GP when a drain cover destroyed Sainz’s Ferrari in FP1. It resulted in the 30-year-old taking a grid penalty for new engine elements which removed Sainz from a P2 start.
The 2023 Las Vegas GP also rubbed some the wrong way with F1’s efforts to make it more of an event than a race. Max Verstappen claimed Liberty Media had made it ‘99% show and 1% sporting event’ after a pre-race launch party along with Bruce Buffer introducing the drivers.
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Sainz thinks Formula 1 learnt from the 2023 edition and improved the Las Vegas GP for 2024 as it felt ‘more normal’. But the Ferrari pilot can still see room for F1 to grow the race in 2025, including stopping the Las Vegas GP from being a back-to-back with the Qatar Grand Prix.
Sainz noted, via quotes by Motorsport-Total: “This year, or at least that’s how I felt, we were able to do our thing a little more normally. And that was a success. It simply shows that the Formula 1 product works and that you shouldn’t try too hard.
“I would bring the race forward by a few hours if I could. I think that would help everyone in the paddock, everyone who works here in this sport. I think that would put everyone in a healthier and better mood over the weekend.
“So, simply bring the race and the times forward a few hours, and not as a back-to-back race with Qatar. I would ask about that as the next step.”
Carlos Sainz faces waiting until 2026 for F1 to answer his Las Vegas GP plea
Sainz must wait until 2026 for Formula 1 to take his suggestion to move the Las Vegas Grand Prix away from being a back-to-back with the Qatar Grand Prix into account. F1 revealed the calendar for 2025 in April and listed Las Vegas and Qatar once again as back-to-back races.
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Having the Las Vegas and Qatar races back-to-back creates problems for all of the travelling staff throughout the F1 paddock. Formula 1 essentially travels from one side of the world to the other with a 10-hour time difference to conduct two of the last three rounds of the year.
F1 will be keen to follow the well-being of those in the paddock at the Qatar GP after a host of illnesses arose at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which followed the debut Las Vegas GP. Among those affected, George Russell fell unwell in Abu Dhabi after the 2023 Las Vegas GP.
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