How Las Vegas thriller exposed the real enemy of racing in Formula 1

OPINION: There were plenty of factors that helped produce a Formula 1 thriller in Las Vegas, but the lack of thermal degradation experienced by the tyres was one of the most significant - and the contest could now provide a blueprint to better racing in the future

Las Vegas’s delivery of a thriller of a race – perhaps the most exciting of the Formula 1 season so far – blew away any remaining dark clouds of criticism that had hung over the event.

The backlash from world champion Max Verstappen describing it as being ‘99% show, 1% sport’, the drain cover problems, the removal of fans from grandstands before FP2 and then the non-apology from F1 with a T-shirt voucher as compensation, were all unsavoury elements that quickly faded into the background.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.