F1 fans could get hitched by Elvis, meet Hello Kitty or be plunged into a pool of Doritos at this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix… Oh, and watch some cars going around!
The dazzling race on the City of Light’s iconic strip, which began three years ago, just keeps getting whackier.
The track itself is 3.8mile long from start to finish, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris going over 212mph, zipping past famous landmarks from Caesars Palace to the Fountains of Bellagio.
In the paddock you can get legally married by an Elvis impersonator at the wedding chapel, which has featured each year since the race started in 2023.
In the fan zone you can be suspended from a harness and turned into a human claw before being plunged face first into a pool of Doritos.
Two competitors go up against each other and whoever grabs the most packets of Doritos wins a prize.
It would be hard to imagine anything as beautifully chaotic taking place at traditional tracks like Silverstone or Spa ten years ago.
F1’s Academy, the all-female series, has collaborated with Hello Kitty whose “schedule has been busier than the boss Susie Wolff’s” this weekend.
She has been doing interviews, signing autographs and helping fans get their “supercute driver’s license” while her bright pink and glittery merchandise has been flying off the shelves.
Sin City still has its rough and ready edge though, with the smell of marijuana wafting around the track given the drug is legal in Nevada and F1 drivers reporting last year that they could smell it from their cars.
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Mickey Mouse and his assortment of Disney pals led a gang of enthusiastic fans on a walk down the pit lane on Thursday.
Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck and Co in the Disneyland Band even performed the national anthem pre-race and featured in the post-race driver celebrations at the Bellagio fountains.
A decade ago many would have scoffed at the idea of a brand as bigtime as Disney linking up with F1, but the sport’s US transformation led to their collaboration being announced in May.
Just further north from the strip fans can visit sites like the Mob Museum where they can step into the shoes of a law enforcement officer and take part in a firearm simulator.
Vegas now boasts three sellout meetings so it’s safe to say that, to the dismay of the old-school petrol heads, the weird and wonderful is here to stay.
