The contrasts that unite the brilliance of racing in Macau and Las Vegas

There’s both a nice symmetry, and a complete contrast, to the fact that the world’s two biggest gambling capitals – Macau and Las Vegas – are hosting showpiece races around their streets this weekend.

On the one side, there is unprecedented hype surrounding anything to do with F1 in Las Vegas right now. Sponsors are falling over themselves to capitalise on the eyeballs that will be focused on cars blasting down the Strip and around the Sphere. Casual fans are sure also to pay a bit more attention to the grand prix action than they would on a more normal weekend.

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But on the flip side of the positive buzz are the doom-mongers who are circling and talking of the event not being able to live up to its crazy expectations. There has even been talk of Liberty’s first effort being the last.

Price drops in tickets, hotel rooms and corporate hospitality packages points to over-pricing and a lack of interest. Plus, the backlash from local residents about the inconveniences of the grand prix coming to town has been consistent on social media in recent weeks.

Further negativity has been whipped up through concerns that the cold temperatures will trigger a weekend of chaos on a track whose configuration has already prompted scepticism from fans (who are only too eager to point out it looks like an upside-down pig) and drivers.

As world champion Max Verstappen said recently: "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… I'm actually not that into it. I'm more like, I'll go there and do my thing and be gone again."

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Verstappen believes F1 is in Las Vegas for the show more than the racing

Verstappen’s comments about the Vegas track, and the clear importance that drivers place on layout, could not provide any starker a contrast to the single element that has earned Macau its near-mythical status on the motor racing calendar.

As the F3 grand prix returns to normal service this weekend after three years where COVID-enforced restrictions made it impossible to host an international competition, it is hard to find any driver whose eyes do not light up at the mention of the Macau track.

Formula E racer Dan Ticktum, who is returning to the event this year to chase an historic hat-trick of victories following his successes in 2017 and 2018, says it was the venue that proved to be a biggest catalyst for him agreeing to come back to F3 when offered the chance by Carlin.

"We always make a joke between drivers and engineers that the championship is the preparation for Macau!" Rene Rosin

“To go and win three times obviously is what everyone is saying, but that's more of a secondary goal really,” he said, when asked by Autosport about his motivation for returning. “It's just the most exciting race that a driver can ever do in their life. I've spoken to a couple of the drivers who are here on that ladder to F1, and they asked me, ‘What do you think?’ I say to them: ‘You don't realise how good this place is. So don't take it for granted.’”

Insight: How Macau's long awaited return is shaping up to thrill

Macau’s core challenge – which is perhaps the first time in a young drivers’ career where they experience such a level of intensity at a venue where one mixed apex and wall clout can derail their entire event – is something that is rarely matched in motorsport. As a race regular, Prema team owner Rene Rosin, whose F3 squad races under the Theodore banner in Macau, says that racing is a key quality that has empowered the event’s success.

“We are very, very happy to be back, and for a team that has a history in F3, it has always been the race of the year,” he said. “We always make a joke between drivers and engineers that the championship is the preparation for Macau!

“Racing here is something incredible for drivers. When the drivers walked the lap yesterday or even this morning, they came back and said: ‘The track is crazy. It is mega.’

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Ticktum will return to Macau this year in search of a third victory

“Of course, everybody is really looking forward to it because here there is still the principle of racing, while I think in Vegas there is more the approach of business, corporate and showbusiness, which of course is working for F1.”

One interesting Macau attendee this weekend is former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who is helping oversee his son Sebastian’s first attempt at the grand prix for Campos. Montoya Sr himself made just one appearance at Macau, failing to make the finish in 1996, but says that the venue has qualities that still make it stand out for him after decades of racing at tracks around the world.

“It's so unique,” he said in the Macau paddock on Wednesday. “Everybody's always excited to come. We did a track walk this morning. You’ve got to deal with traffic and everything, because they don't even close the track, and so you are just trying to make sure buses don't run you over or anything!

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“It's still the very same classic street course, honestly, apart from Turn 1, where they put a kerb on the inside. Every other apex is still the wall, and it's high. So, it is blind corners. It really brings you back to the original street courses and things that are just hardcore and unforgiving. I think that is really cool.”

It is the test of the track, and that it is a one-off event which offers no second chances, that has made it such a good proving ground for drivers coming through the ranks. Success is never guaranteed.

But amid all the love for the Macau track, especially as it offers a contrast to the criticised Vegas layout, it would be all too easy to define the two events in black-and-white terms. The reality is that they are offering completely different things.

For Montoya, as someone who has followed the development of the Vegas project, he sees the negative noise that has emerged around the event as nothing to get too excited about.

“The thing nowadays with social media is that people just talk too much,” he said. “Everybody has an opinion, and anybody that can have a camera is an expert. And ultimately, it’s great, because everybody talks about it, whether it's good or bad.”

Photo by: Motorsport Images/Ralph Hardwick

Montoya, who competed in the 43rd running of the Macau GP in 1996, has hailed the relatively unchanged track as "really cool"

Instead, Montoya sees a common thread to both Vegas and Macau. The events may have totally different qualities, and be targeted at completely different markets, but it’s the fact they stand out from the norm that unites them in their appeal.

“The problem is nowadays when things are different, people are afraid when it is different,” he said. “People don't like being out of their comfort zone, but I think being out of the comfort zone, it's a good thing. I think long-term Vegas is going to be insane. To race at night, with everything around it, it's going to be a very well-established event.

“If you have ever been to Vegas, to know where they're going to run, to get the Strip closed to run at night, are you kidding me? I mean to close it at midday, nobody's there. But at night? That takes a lot.

"People don't like being out of their comfort zone, but I think being out of the comfort zone, it's a good thing" Juan Pablo Montoya

“Then there is the experience of Macau. When you come from the European tracks, where all these young kids race with all the run-off areas and everything, and you come here and the only thing you see is walls, it is a big wake-up call. And for me, this is the better approach. When you have run-off areas, it takes a lot of the commitment out of it.

Friday favourite: Augusto Farfus explains the magic of Macau

“It is like when people come from racing prototypes in Europe and they go and run IMSA and go: ‘Oh my God, it's insane. It's so good.’ To me, it's like Turn 1 in Road Atlanta. It's quick. It's a really fast corner and you put a wheel off, you're not coming back. There's grass, but it's bumpy, and you're going to hit something if you go off. So, knowing that, and being able to push through that, I think it just brings the best out of the better drivers.”

Races in Las Vegas and Macau may be totally different, but the message is clear: both have unique reasons that make them unmissable.

Photo by: Erik Junius

Vegas, Macau, or both? How much action will you take in this weekend?